[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 138 (Thursday, November 13, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5995-S5996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 578--SUPPORTING THE ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES IN 
   ENSURING CHILDREN IN THE WORLD'S POOREST COUNTRIES HAVE ACCESS TO 
      VACCINES AND IMMUNIZATION THROUGH GAVI, THE VACCINE ALLIANCE

  Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Coons, and Mr. Boozman) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 578

       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 30,000,000 children born in the 
     developing world each year were not fully immunized;
       Whereas, prior to 2000, it was common for new life-saving 
     vaccines to take up to 15 years to be introduced in the 
     world's poorest countries;
       Whereas access to routine immunization and vaccines protect 
     children from deadly but preventable disease and contribute 
     to national economic growth and poverty reduction by ensuring 
     people live longer, healthier, and more productive lives;
       Whereas, in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the 
     United States, the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund 
     (UNICEF), the World Health Organization, the World Bank, 
     bilateral partners, developing countries, the private sector, 
     including the vaccine industry, civil society, and other 
     partners joined forces to create a public-private partnership 
     called the Global Fund for Children's Vaccines (now Gavi, The 
     Vaccine Alliance) in order to expand access to new and 
     underused vaccines and support the introduction and scale-up 
     of these vaccines into routine immunization systems in the 
     world's poorest countries;
       Whereas partnership and sustainability are at the core of 
     the Gavi model by requiring eligible countries to contribute 
     financing to some portion of their vaccine costs and directly 
     invest in immunizing their children;
       Whereas, by 2012, more than 65 developing countries working 
     with Gavi were co-financing new and underused vaccines and 
     more than 20 countries are projected to graduate between 2016 
     and 2020, moving toward fully funding their national 
     immunization programs;
       Whereas Gavi has transformed the market for vaccines by 
     pooling demand from developing countries matched with secure, 
     predictable financing to make vaccines more affordable and 
     their supply more reliable, and encouraging research and 
     development of new vaccines;
       Whereas, as a result, Gavi has played a critical role in 
     increasing the number of global vaccine manufacturers selling 
     to the world's poorest countries from 5 in 2001 to 13 in 
     2014;
       Whereas the price for the pneumococcal vaccine, which 
     prevents pneumonia, is now more than 90 percent lower for 
     Gavi-eligible countries than elsewhere, and the price of 
     rotavirus vaccines, which prevents diarrhea, is 67 percent 
     lower in Gavi-eligible countries;
       Whereas, with innovative financing mechanisms like the 
     Advance Market Commitment and International Finance Facility 
     for Immunisation (IFFIm), Gavi ensures that appropriate and 
     affordable vaccines are available throughout the developing 
     world;
       Whereas Gavi supports the financing and delivery of 11 
     vaccines, including those against pneumococcal disease and 
     rotavirus, the leading vaccine-preventable causes of 
     pneumonia and diarrhea, which kill more children under the 
     age of five than any other disease;
       Whereas Gavi collaborates closely with the Global Polio 
     Eradication Initiative on the final push to end polio, 
     strengthening and bringing the inactivated polio vaccine into 
     routine immunization programs;
       Whereas strong immunization systems are critical to 
     ensuring continuous coverage and sustainability of new and 
     routine immunization programs in implementing countries;
       Whereas Gavi supports the strengthening of health systems 
     and local civil society organizations to ensure effective 
     immunization and health services;
       Whereas, since 2000, with support from the United States, 
     the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, the World Health 
     Organization, the World Bank, implementing countries, donor 
     governments, the private sector, and other donors and 
     partners, Gavi has supported country-led vaccine roll outs in 
     77 countries to support the immunization of an additional 
     440,000,000 children and will avert an estimated 6,000,000 
     deaths in the world's poorest countries;
       Whereas, in 2013, Gavi was ranked the second most 
     transparent aid program in the Aid Transparency Index, behind 
     only the Millennium Challenge Corporation;
       Whereas, even with significant contributions by Gavi, only 
     a small percentage of young children worldwide receive all 11 
     life-saving vaccines universally recommended by the World 
     Health Organization;
       Whereas vaccines are widely regarded as one of the ``best 
     buys'' in global health and recognized as one of the most 
     efficient, cost-effective, and successful health initiatives 
     in history;
       Whereas, in 2012, leading experts on health economics 
     ranked childhood immunization as one of the three most cost-
     effective solutions to advance global health;
       Whereas, as one of the initial six donors, the United 
     States has been an important supporter of Gavi and through 
     the generosity of the people of the United States has 
     contributed almost $1,200,000,000 for the acquisition of life 
     saving vaccines;
       Whereas, at Gavi's first pledging conference in June 2011, 
     the United States increased its support and pledged 
     $450,000,000 for fiscal years 2012 through 2014 to increase 
     access to new and underused vaccines, including pneumococcal 
     and rotavirus vaccines;
       Whereas, in addition to this three-year pledge, the United 
     States contributed an additional $90,000,000 to Gavi in 
     fiscal year 2011;
       Whereas United States investment in Gavi complements and 
     enhances the effectiveness of other bilateral and 
     multilateral United States investments in global health, 
     particularly in child survival;
       Whereas Gavi is committed to working with partners, 
     including United States bilateral programs run 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 vaccines and 
     immunizations;
       Whereas, in June 2012, the United States Government, 
     together with the Governments of Ethiopia and India as well 
     as UNICEF, mobilized the world around the goal of ending 
     preventable child deaths by 2035;
       Whereas access to immunizations is a key component of 
     reaching that goal;
       Whereas, in May 2014, at the World Economic Forum meeting 
     in Abuja, Nigeria, African leaders pledged to increase 
     investment in their countries' immunization programs by 
     endorsing the Immunise Africa 2020 leaders declaration;
       Whereas, on May 20, 2014, Gavi called on donors to support 
     an ambitious plan to immunize an additional 300,000,000 
     children against potentially fatal diseases and save an 
     additional 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 lives between 2016 and 
     2020;
       Whereas Gavi needs donors to invest an additional 
     $7,500,000,000 to support immunization programs in developing 
     countries from 2016 to 2020;
       Whereas, at the same time, implementing countries are 
     expected to co-finance an additional $1,200,000,000, an 
     increase from almost $500,000,000 in 2011 through 2015; and
       Whereas, with this support from donors and the global 
     vaccine community, Gavi can reach its 1,000,000,000th child 
     with critical vaccines by the early 2020s, nearly double the 
     number of lives saved since its founding, and unlock between 
     $80,000,000,000 and $100,000,000,000 in economic benefits 
     through health care savings and productivity gains: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, the Bill & Melinda 
     Gates Foundation, the United Nations Children's Emergency 
     Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization, the World Bank, 
     civil society, the private sector, faith-based organizations, 
     the international community, and implementing countries on 
     the progress that has been made on reducing child mortality 
     through the increased availability and distribution of 
     vaccines;
       (2) affirms the continued support of the people and 
     Government of the United States for the purchase of vaccines 
     for the world's poorest countries through Gavi as a cost-
     effective, efficient means to reduce child mortality and as a 
     critical component of meeting the United States goal to end 
     preventable maternal and child deaths;
       (3) supports the ideals and goals of Gavi to--
       (A) accelerate equitable uptake and coverage of vaccines;
       (B) improve the effectiveness and efficiency of 
     immunization delivery;
       (C) improve sustainability of national immunization 
     programs; and
       (D) shape markets for vaccines and other immunization 
     products;
       (4) upholds that the United States is a critical donor in 
     its work with other donors to perform diplomatic outreach in 
     seeking additional funding for Gavi in order to leverage its 
     commitment;
       (5) recognizes that the United States, in addition to being 
     an important donor, is a critical technical partner to Gavi, 
     and the impact of United States investments to Gavi

[[Page S5996]]

     is leveraged by providing direct technical assistance to 
     implementing countries and global bodies;
       (6) encourages the continued use of United States Agency 
     for International Development (USAID) maternal and child 
     health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
     global immunization resources to strengthen local public 
     health capacity to introduce and sustain new and 
     underutilized vaccines, that are supported by Gavi, through 
     routine immunization systems; and
       (7) encourages continued commitment and investment by the 
     United States Government and international donors, through 
     Gavi, to the global effort to ensure that children in 
     developing nations have access to vaccines and immunizations.

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