[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 14, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3687-S3688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 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'')

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

                              S. Res. 684

       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

[[Page S3688]]

     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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