Countdown to Replenishment and Progress in Our Fight to Protect Children from Pneumonia

We are less than a week away from a converging of the world’s global health community in support of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. At the replenishment conference January 27 in Berlin, Germany, countries will make financial commitments to Gavi in support of our collective goal of providing vaccines to an additional 300 million children over the next five years (2016-2020).

At Shot@Life we devoted much of 2014 to raising awareness and funding for Gavi.  Supported by a dedicated network of nearly 600 Shot@Life Champions across the United States, combined with a generous match from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Shot@Life raised more than $399,000 in December to support Gavi and their work to combat pneumonia. This money will provide nearly 80,000 vaccines to children who need them most. As one of the world’s deadliest diseases, pneumonia kills more children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined, with almost two million children dying globally each year.

In recent years we have seen many success stories emerge in the fight against pneumonia. Countries like Niger have made great strides to protect their children from this deadly vaccine-preventable disease.  In August, Niger joined a growing list of nations who introduced vaccines against pneumococcal disease—vaccinating nearly a million children. These introductions see Niger play its part in the 2025 integrated Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhea, which aims to see childhood deaths due to pneumonia and diarrhea eliminated by 2025.

I encourage everyone to follow the conversation taking place in Berlin and share this infographic with your networks.