Madrid - The Conference on the Impact of Vaccination, co-organized by the Spanish Government and GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines), begins Tuesday (13) in Madrid, the capital city of Spain.
The event, which will be attended by the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, will bring together representatives of multilateral organizations, governments, civil society, companies and universities.
Participants in the meeting will assess the impact achieved by GAVI (an initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) from January 2021 until now, a period in which the initiative faced the double challenge of supporting, with its partners, routine immunization and responding to the needs of Covid-19.
The conference agenda includes a speech by the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, who was invited to attend the event in view of his participation in the Covid-19 vaccination in Angola, which as of May 5 recorded 105,669 patients and 1,936 deaths, according to official data.
According to data from the Health Ministry, Angola administered until April 15, 2023, a total of over 25.1 million doses of vaccines and more than 15.6 million citizens got their 1st dose, an immunization coverage of 83%.
Of the total vaccines administered until that period, roughly 8.7 million were full doses, which corresponds to a coverage of 46%.
Speaking about the conference, the Angolan minister of Health, Silvia Lutucuta, said on Monday in Madrid that Angola has been counting on GAVI's support in customizing all the campaigns of that alliance, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO).
Silvia Lutucuta revealed that the vaccine company has been Angola´s strategic partner since 2000 and with its classification as a middle-income country, it has supported the vaccination costs, using the General State Budget.
The minister who was speaking to the Angolan press, she highlighted the fact that Angola is recognized due to the purchase of vaccines, emphasizing that it will continue to depend on support from GAVI, partners, and donors.
GAVI data indicate that, since 2021, the initiative has provided more than 1.9 billion doses of Covid-19 to 146 countries, through COVAX, and supported 32 immunization campaigns in response to outbreaks that occurred in the year 2022.
The Vaccines Alliance has also revitalised its immunization programme against HPV (prevents against cancer), and should support the launch of the first vaccine against malaria in the world, later this year.
Since its creation in 2000, GAVI - Alliance of Vaccines has helped to immunize more than 981 million children and prevented more than 16.2 million deaths, which has helped to reduce, by half, child mortality in 73 countries of low income.
GAVI also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems and funding global stockpiles of Ebola, cholera and yellow fever vaccines.
After two decades, Gavi is focused on protecting, in particular, children who have not received any vaccine.
The Global Alliance for Vaccines brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the World Bank, vaccine industries, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. FMA/AL/ELJ/MRA/jmc
