[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 684 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 684

 Supporting the role of the United States in helping save the lives of 
 children and protecting the health of people in low-income countries 
   with vaccines and immunization through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance 
                              (``Gavi'').


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 14, 2024

    Mr. Wicker (for himself and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Supporting the role of the United States in helping save the lives of 
 children and protecting the health of people in low-income countries 
   with vaccines and immunization through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance 
                              (``Gavi'').

Whereas, prior to 2000, the distribution of and the resources for vaccines for 
        children in the developing world were declining, immunization rates were 
        stagnant or decreasing, and nearly 10,000,000 children died each year 
        before reaching their 5th birthday;
Whereas, prior to 2000, it was common for new lifesaving vaccines to take up to 
        15 years to be introduced in the world's most impoverished countries;
Whereas access to routine immunization and vaccines protects children from 
        deadly but preventable diseases and contributes to national economic 
        growth and poverty reduction by ensuring people live longer, healthier, 
        and more productive lives;
Whereas, in 2000, the United States, the United Nations Children's Fund 
        (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, 
        government donors, lower-income country governments, foundations 
        (including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), the private sector 
        (including the vaccine industry), faith-based organizations, civil 
        society, and other partners joined forces to create a public-private 
        partnership now known as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in order to expand 
        access to new and underused vaccines and support the introduction and 
        scaleup of these vaccines into routine immunization systems in the 
        world's most impoverished countries;
Whereas, from 2000 through 2022, with support from the United States, and other 
        donors and partners, Gavi has supported country-led vaccine initiatives 
        in 78 countries to support the immunization of more than 1,000,000,000 
        additional children and averted an estimated 17,300,000 deaths in the 
        world's most impoverished countries;
Whereas Gavi has been a major contributor in reducing the number of childhood 
        deaths in lower-income countries due to vaccine-preventable disease by 
        70 percent since 2000;
Whereas country ownership and sustainability are at the core of the Gavi model, 
        which requires Gavi-eligible countries to contribute to a portion of 
        vaccine costs and directly invest in immunizing children, and Gavi-
        supported countries contributed more than $1,500,000,000 to immunization 
        campaigns between 2008 and 2022;
Whereas 78 low-income countries currently provide co-financing for new and 
        underused vaccines supported by Gavi, more than 19 countries have 
        transitioned from Gavi support by the end of 2022, and an additional 10 
        countries may transition by 2040, moving toward fully funding their 
        immunization programs;
Whereas Gavi has transformed the market for vaccines by matching pooled demand 
        from low-income countries with secure, predictable financing to make 
        vaccines more affordable and supply more reliable, reducing the price of 
        the most common vaccines by 24 percent from 2015 to 2020 and increasing 
        the number of global vaccine manufacturers selling pre-qualified Gavi-
        supported vaccines to the world's most impoverished countries from 5 in 
        2001 to 18 in 2018;
Whereas Gavi estimates that its market shaping efforts will result in savings of 
        over $900,000,000 from 2021 to 2025 and may encourage research and 
        development of new vaccines;
Whereas Gavi is poised to provide the most comprehensive package of support in 
        the 2021 to 2025 period by financing and delivering 18 vaccines to the 
        world's most impoverished countries;
Whereas Gavi, the African Union, and the Africa Centers for Disease Control 
        (Africa CDC) have jointly established the African Vaccine Manufacturing 
        Accelerator (AVMA) to provide innovative financing to expand sustainably 
        vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa and improve the region's 
        resilience in the face of pandemics, outbreaks, and other health 
        emergencies, while preserving the health of vaccine markets globally;
Whereas Gavi is collaborating with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative on 
        the final push to end polio, and expanding the integration of the 
        inactivated polio vaccine into routine immunization programs;
Whereas Gavi has made significant progress in supporting the development and 
        stockpiling of effective vaccines to combat cholera, measles, 
        meningococcal, yellow fever, and Ebola, which could also protect 
        Americans in the event of an outbreak on United States soil;
Whereas malaria is one of most long-standing and deadliest diseases in Africa, 
        and in 2022, malaria killed an estimated 580,000 children in Africa, 78 
        percent of whom were children under five;
Whereas Gavi has begun deliveries of new malaria vaccines and will expand the 
        program to dozens of countries as vaccine supply becomes available;
Whereas Gavi recently allocated 18,000,000 doses of the malaria vaccine RTS,S in 
        2023 and 2024, the World Health Organization estimates that at least 
        40,000,000 to 60,000,000 doses will be needed annually by 2026 and 
        80,000,000 to 100,000,000 doses will be needed by 2030;
Whereas Gavi is supporting expanded procurement, access, and implementation of 
        new malaria vaccine programs to help meet rising demand;
Whereas data from malaria vaccine trials indicate that these vaccines can save 
        one life for every 200 children vaccinated, with the potential for 
        significantly impacting public health and saving tens of thousands of 
        lives annually;
Whereas Gavi supports the strengthening of health systems to ensure effective 
        immunization and health services, including through the provision of 
        cold chain equipment that can also be effectively repurposed for 
        emergency response, as was demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas, through COVAX, Gavi and global partners delivered nearly 2,000,000,000 
        doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 146 economies, and averted an estimated 
        2,700,000 deaths in Advance Market Commitment lower-income participating 
        economies;
Whereas Gavi is providing additional vaccine support to address health service 
        interruptions that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and contributed 
        to the largest backslide in routine childhood immunization in 30 years, 
        and is also focusing on the 14,000,000 ``zero-dose'' children in Gavi-
        supported countries who had not received a single vaccine;
Whereas vaccines programs are widely regarded as high-impact, evidence-based 
        interventions and are among the most efficient, cost-effective, and 
        successful health initiatives in history, returning over $50 in health 
        and economic savings for every $1 invested in Gavi-supported countries;
Whereas the prevention of infectious disease through immunization in Gavi-
        eligible countries provides protection and health security in the United 
        States by reducing the prevalence of infectious diseases and stemming 
        outbreaks at their source;
Whereas United States investment in Gavi complements and enhances the 
        effectiveness of other United States investments in global health, 
        particularly in maternal and child health and nutrition;
Whereas Gavi is committed to working with partners, including United States 
        bilateral programs administrated by the United States Agency for 
        International Development (USAID) and the Centers for Disease Control 
        and Prevention (CDC), to ensure children in developing nations have 
        access to lifesaving vaccines and immunizations;
Whereas Gavi's next strategic cycle will cover the strategic period of 2026 to 
        2030, which will include the expansion of Gavi's malaria program;
Whereas the launches of the Gavi's Investment Opportunity for 2026 through 2030 
        and AVMA will be held in June 2024 and co-hosted by the Government of 
        France, African Union, and Africa CDC to obtain funding commitments;
Whereas the United States has consistently supported the goal of saving lives by 
        contributing annually to Gavi to meet its projected replenishment and 
        program goals;
Whereas with this support and support from other donors, Gavi will have 
        contributed $220,500,000,000 in economic benefits in Gavi countries as 
        of 2022, with each $1 invested yielding $54 return on investment; and
Whereas an increased commitment from the United States remains necessary to 
        ensure predictability and stability to the vaccine market, to enable 
        strong global health security efforts, spur confidence in Gavi-eligible 
        countries, and encourage continued innovative vaccine-related 
        approaches: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) affirms the continued support of the United States 
        Government for the purchase of vaccines for low-income 
        countries through Gavi as a cost-effective, efficient means to 
        reduce mortality and as a critical component of meeting the 
        United States goal to end preventable child and maternal 
        deaths;
            (2) supports the principles and goals of Gavi to--
                    (A) introduce and scale up new and routine 
                immunizations in low-income countries;
                    (B) improve sustainability of immunization 
                programs;
                    (C) ensure healthy markets for vaccines and related 
                products; and
                    (D) strengthen health systems to increase equity in 
                immunization;
            (3) recognizes that United States Government support for 
        Gavi is a critical component to ensuring health security in the 
        United States;
            (4) encourages the continued use of USAID maternal and 
        child health and CDC global immunization resources to 
        strengthen local public health capacity to introduce and 
        sustain new and underutilized vaccines supported by Gavi 
        through routine immunization systems;
            (5) recognizes the need for multiyear pledges from the 
        United States to allow Gavi to maximize its impact to provide 
        lifesaving vaccines and to leverage contributions from other 
        countries and donors; and
            (6) encourages continued increased commitment and 
        investment by the United States Government to Gavi in the 2026 
        to 2030 strategic period in order to ensure that lives are 
        protected and saved through access to vaccines and 
        immunizations.
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