The Alliance for Vaccination of Children has helped vaccinate approximately 9 million children in 10 countries in Africa and Latin America, including Mozambique, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Central African Republic, Sudan, Bolivia and Tanzania. The initiative was promoted in 2008 by the “la Caixa” foundation together with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and in collaboration with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). In addition to vaccinations with pentavalent vaccines that protect against diseases such as tetanus or diphtheria, they have collectively ensured that some 9 million children are immunized against pneumonia, a lung infection that remains the leading cause of death among children in the world.
For this purpose, the childhood vaccination program relies on donations from the “la Caixa” foundation, which receives 3,700 companies across Spain, in addition to small donations from citizens and donations from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and donations from CaixaBank customers.
«At the “la Caixa” Foundation, we will continue to work on this project and contribute more to the work of Gavi, because we firmly believe that we must continue to work to avoid infant deaths caused by the lack of vaccines. This is our responsibility. ” emphasizes Antonio Vila Bertran, General Manager of the “la Caixa” Foundation.
Fundraising is based on a “matching fund” formula under which all donations received are multiplied by four. This is because for every euro donated, one euro will be added to the foundation “la Caixa” and a further two euros will be added to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this way, over the past four years, 100% of Gavi’s demand for pneumonia vaccines in Mozambique has been financed, while Ethiopia has met an average of 25% of its needs in 2021 and 2022.
The “la Caixa” foundation, Gavi’s first private partner in Europe, has renewed its commitment to the international organization by doubling all donations to the alliance in 2023. The project also offers the possibility of donations from third parties. Therefore, the program accepts donations from companies as part of its corporate social responsibility. As a philanthropic initiative to reduce infant mortality, partnership opportunities also extend to CaixaBank’s customers and employees, as well as to society at large.
For its part, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which launched its matching fund initiative in 2011, has also maintained its commitment to double the total amount of all financial contributions to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi) in 2023 , with a maximum limit of €4 million, and ISGlobal, a business consortium he joined as a strategic partner in 2014 and continues to contribute his scientific and academic experience to the project.
All financial contributions from entities, private companies and society at large are aimed at expanding economic resources to promote immunization of boys and girls in 10 countries in Africa and Latin America. The main focus is on distributing pneumococcal vaccines to combat pneumonia in Mozambique and Ethiopia. Pneumonia is a lung infection that remains the leading cause of death in children around the world, and Sunday in November marks World Pneumonia Day.
Every 42 seconds a child dies from pneumonia
On April 26 and 27, the “la Caixa” Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Every Breath Counts Alliance hosted the second Pneumonia Forum
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, also participated in the children’s event at the CaixaForum in Madrid. The meeting brought together more than 300 participants, including senior government officials from 14 countries that account for 60% of all childhood pneumonia deaths. The event was also attended by members of the Spanish government, leaders of the United Nations and multilateral development agencies, large donors, NGOs, private companies and the scientific community.
This international forum provides a venue for discussion and analysis of new challenges in the wake of COVID-19, followed by decisions on actions and measures that governments must take to reduce child deaths from pneumonia and accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal on child survival (SDG 3) ).
groundbreaking alliance
Gavi is a public-private alliance that brings together developing countries with donors including governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccination industry, technical agencies, civil society, Bill and May The Linda Gates Foundation and other partners from the private sector, including the leading Spanish foundation “la Caixa” Foundation.
Since its founding in 2000, its mission has been to save lives, reduce poverty and protect the world from the threats of epidemics and pandemics. To this end, by the end of 2022, it has helped more than 1 billion children in 78 countries be vaccinated.
What is unique about the Children’s Immunization Alliance of “la Caixa” Foundation is the participation of CaixaBank clients, both companies and individuals, in pioneering European corporate social responsibility projects. The Alliance for Vaccination of Children has the commitment of the CaixaBank Empresas and CaixaBank Banca Privada teams and their entire network of offices, which is key to communication and fundraising.
To achieve this goal, CaixaBank Empresas carries out extensive awareness-raising work among its clients, offering them the opportunity to contribute to vaccine access and quality in developing countries as an act of social responsibility, allowing them to give back to society. They’ve got it out of it. For its part, CaixaBank Banca Privada promotes support for Gavi within the framework of its social value project, which supports and encourages the charitable concerns of its clients.
The “la Caixa” foundation has covered 10 countries in Africa and Latin America, including Mozambique, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mauritania,
Nicaragua, Central African Republic, Sudan, Bolivia and Tanzania.In recent years, the “la Caixa” foundation has paid special attention to Mozambique
Pneumococcal vaccine against pneumonia, currently the leading cause of infant death in this country.As far as GAVI is concerned
Among 34 candidates competing for recognition, the 2020 Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation was selected.