66 companies in the Balearic Islands vaccinate nearly 100,000 children in Africa and Latin America against pneumonia

99,969 particularly vulnerable children in the Balearic Islands have been vaccinated against pneumonia thanks to 66 companies in the Balearic Islands, which since 2008 have joined the Alliance for Childhood Vaccination of the Savings Bank Foundation. As the entity reported in a statement this Wednesday, this is an initiative to combat preventable diseases but poses a huge risk to the lives of minors in their countries of origin due to the difficulty in accessing health care. The alliance was promoted 15 years ago by the Foundation together with the Vaccine Alliance for Africa (Gavi), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and collaboration from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). In addition to vaccinations with the pentavalent vaccine, which protects against diseases such as tetanus or diphtheria, they have collectively ensured that nearly 9 million children are immunized against pneumonia, a lung infection that remains the leading cause of death among children around the world. Ten other African and Latin American countries – Mozambique, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Central African Republic, Sudan, Bolivia and Tanzania. To achieve this goal, the program relies on donations from la Caixa Foundation, in addition to small donations from citizens and donations from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, there are also contributions from 3,700 companies and CaixaBank customers across Spain . “At the Savings Bank Foundation we will continue to work on this project and contribute more to the work of GAVI, because we firmly believe that we all must continue to work to avoid infant deaths due to lack of vaccines; This is our responsibility,” said Antonio Vila Bertran, general manager of la Caixa Foundation. “Matching Fund” Formula Fundraisers are based on a “matching fund” formula whereby all donations received are multiplied by four. This is because for every euro donated, one euro is added to the Savings Bank Foundation and a further two euros are added to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this way, over the past four years, GAVI was able to meet 100% of Mozambique’s pneumonia vaccine needs in 2021 and 2022, and an average of 25% of Ethiopia’s needs. The Savings Bank Foundation reiterated its commitment to the international organization in 2023 to double all contributions to the Alliance. The project also offers the possibility of donations from third parties. Bill and Melinda Gates have also continued their commitment to double the total amount of all funding provided by Gavi, while ISGlobal, which joined the business alliance as a strategic partner in 2014, continues to contribute its scientific and technical expertise to the project. .academic. All financial contributions from entities, private companies and society at large are aimed at expanding economic funding to promote childhood immunization in ten countries in Africa and Latin America. The main focus is the distribution of pneumococcal vaccines. It should be remembered that every 42 seconds a child in the world dies from pneumonia.