IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 861 

Supporting the role of the United States in helping save the lives of children 

and protecting the health of people in poor countries with vaccines 

and immunization through the GAVI Alliance. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 21, 2020 

Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Ms. LEE of California, 

Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Mr. YOHO) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the role of the United States in helping save 

the lives of children and protecting the health of people 

in poor countries with vaccines and immunization 

through the GAVI Alliance. 

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 poorest countries; 


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Whereas access to routine immunization and vaccines protects children from deadly but preventable disease and 

contributes 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 Fund, the 

World Health Organization, the World Bank, government 

donors, developing countries, the private sector (including 

the vaccine industry), faith-based organizations, civil society, and other partners joined forces to create a publicprivate partnership called the Global Fund for Children’s 

Vaccine (now the GAVI 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 poorest countries; 

Whereas, since 2000, with support from the United States, 

and other donors and partners, the GAVI Alliance has 

supported country-led vaccine initiatives in 73 countries 

to support the immunization of more than 760,000,000 

additional children and will avert an estimated 

13,000,000 deaths in the world’s poorest countries; 

Whereas the financing of vaccines by the GAVI Alliance has 

been a major factor in reducing the number of deaths 

due to vaccine preventable disease by as much as 70 percent since 2000; 

Whereas country ownership and sustainability are at the core 

of the GAVI Alliance model, which requires GAVI-eligible 

countries to contribute domestic financing to a portion of 

their vaccine costs and directly invest in immunizing their 

children; 


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Whereas 73 developing countries working with the GAVI Alliance have cofinanced new and underused vaccines supported by the GAVI Alliance, more than 18 countries will 

have transitioned from GAVI support by the end of 2020, 

and a further 10 countries (40 percent of the original set 

of GAVI-eligible countries) are projected to transition 

during GAVI’s next strategic cycle between 2021 and 

2025, moving toward fully funding their immunization 

programs; 

Whereas the GAVI Alliance has transformed the market for 

vaccines by matching pooled demand from developing 

countries with secure, predictable financing to make vaccines more affordable and supply more reliable, which will 

result in savings of over $900,000,000 from 2021 to 

2025, and encouraging research and development of new 

vaccines; 

Whereas the GAVI Alliance 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 

17 in 2018; 

Whereas the GAVI Alliance is poised to provide the most 

comprehensive package of support in the 2021–2025 period by financing and delivering 18 vaccines to the 

world’s poorest countries; 

Whereas the GAVI Alliance collaborates 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 programs in health systems are needed to implement additional polio protection; 


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Whereas the GAVI Alliance has made significant progress in 

supporting the development and stockpiling of an effective vaccine to combat Ebola; 

Whereas the GAVI Alliance is participating in efforts to test 

and implement an effective vaccine to prevent malaria, a 

disease that kills more than 500,000 children a year; 

Whereas the GAVI Alliance supports the strengthening of 

health systems to ensure effective immunization and 

health services; 

Whereas even with significant progress in increasing immunization coverage through the GAVI Alliance support, 

19,400,000 children annually in lower income countries 

still miss out on a full course of the most basic vaccines; 

Whereas the cumulative effects of population growth, displacement, and increasing fragility, coupled with those of 

recurrent disease outbreaks, are threatening hard-won 

gains and increase the risk of backsliding; 

Whereas outbreaks risk jeopardizing the achievements of national routine immunization programs, and given the 

enormous increase in human mobility, threaten global 

health security; 

Whereas vaccines are widely regarded as a high-impact, evidence-based intervention and are known 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 the prevention of infectious disease through immunization in GAVI-eligible countries provides protection and 

health security in the United States; 

Whereas United States investment in the GAVI Alliance complements and enhances the effectiveness of other United 


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States investments in global health, particularly in child 

survival; 

Whereas the GAVI Alliance is committed to working with 

partners, including United States bilateral programs run 

by the United States Agency for International Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

to ensure children in developing nations have access to 

vaccines and immunizations; 

Whereas access to vaccines is an essential part of ending preventable childhood deaths and preventing other fatal diseases; 

Whereas, in August 2019, the GAVI Alliance called on donors to support an ambitious plan to immunize an additional 300,000,000 children against potentially fatal diseases between 2021 and 2025, and save an additional 

7,000,000 to 8,000,000 lives; 

Whereas GAVI-eligible countries are expected to contribute 

$3,600,000,000 of their own domestic funding toward 

their vaccine programs in the GAVI Alliance’s 2021– 

2025 strategic period, more than doubling their funding 

from the $1,600,000,000 contributed during the 2015– 

2020 period; 

Whereas the third GAVI replenishment conference will be 

held in June 2020 hosted by the United Kingdom to obtain funding commitments to support the organization’s 

programs from 2021 to 2025; 

Whereas the GAVI Alliance needs donors to invest at least 

an additional $7,400,000,000 for its third replenishment 

cycle to support developing countries’ immunization programs from 2021 to 2025; 


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Whereas the United States has consistently supported the 

goal of saving lives by contributing to the GAVI Alliance 

to meet its projected replenishment and program goals; 

Whereas the United States has made contributions to the 

GAVI Alliance in the amount of $290,000,000 in each of 

fiscal years 2018 and 2019, and has appropriated this 

amount for fiscal year 2020; 

Whereas with this support and support from other donors, 

the GAVI Alliance will have contributed to saving more 

than 20,000,000 lives by the end of 2025 and unlocked 

between $80,000,000 to $100,000,000 in economic benefits through health care savings and productivity gains; 

and 

Whereas a strong 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 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) affirms the United States continued support 

3 for the purchase of vaccines for developing countries 

4 through the GAVI Alliance as a cost-effective, effi5 cient means to reduce mortality and as a critical 

6 component of meeting the United States goal to end 

7 preventable maternal and child deaths; 

8 (2) supports the principles and goals of the 

9 GAVI Alliance to— 

10 (A) introduce and scale up immunization; 


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1 (B) improve sustainability of immunization 

2 programs; 

3 (C) ensure healthy markets for vaccines 

4 and related products; and 

5 (D) strengthen health systems to increase 

6 equity in immunization; 

7 (3) recognizes that the United States Govern8 ment support to the GAVI Alliance is a critical com9 ponent to ensuring health security in the United 

10 States; 

11 (4) encourages the continued use of United 

12 States Agency for International Development mater13 nal and child health and Centers for Disease Control 

14 and Prevention global immunization resources to 

15 strengthen local public health capacity to introduce 

16 and sustain new and underutilized vaccines, that are 

17 supported by the GAVI Alliance, through routine im18 munization systems; 

19 (5) recognizes the need for multiyear pledges 

20 from the United States to allow GAVI to maximize 

21 its impact to provide lifesaving vaccines and to lever22 age contributions from other countries and donors; 

23 and 

24 (6) encourages continued commitment and in25 vestment at least at the current appropriated fundVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:24 Feb 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR861.IH HR861

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1 ing level by the United States Government to the 

2 GAVI Alliance in the 2021–2025 GAVI Alliance 

3 strategic period in order to ensure that lives are pro4 tected and saved through access to vaccines and im5 munizations. 

Æ 


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