Thanks to the “la Caixa” foundation, more than 65,000 children in Africa and Latin America have been vaccinated against pneumonia

The Childhood Vaccination Alliance of the “la Caixa” Foundation has successfully immunized 65,585 particularly vulnerable boys and girls in Africa and Latin America, thanks to 54 companies in Santa Cruz de Tenerife since 2008 has been involved in solidarity actions since the beginning of the year. The initiative aims to combat preventable diseases that pose a huge risk to the lives of minors in their countries of origin due to limited access to health care. The initiative was launched 15 years ago by the “la Caixa” foundation together with Gavi, the African Vaccine Alliance, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and in collaboration with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). Together, they ensure that some 9 million children are immunized against pneumonia, a lung infection that remains the leading cause of death among children around the world, as well as the pentavalent vaccine that protects against diseases such as tetanus or diphtheria, according to A note from the “la Caixa” foundation, which includes 10 countries in Africa and Latin America, including Mozambique, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Central African Republic, Sudan, Bolivia and Tanzania. To this end, the childhood vaccination program relies on donations from the “la Caixa” foundation, which receives donations from 3,700 companies and CaixaBank customers across Spain, in addition to small donations from citizens and the contributions of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donation. “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 the deaths of infants due to the lack of vaccines. This It is our responsibility,” stressed general manager Antonio Vila Bertran. Fundraising for Renewed Commitment to Fight Infant Mortality is based on a “matching fund” formula whereby all donations received are multiplied by four. This is because for every euro donated, one euro will be added to the “la*Caixa” foundation and a further two euros will be added to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this way, 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 over the past four years. The “la Caixa” foundation is the first project of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. Europe’s private partners have reaffirmed their commitment to international organizations, doubling all contributions to alliances by 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 program in 2011, has also maintained its commitment to double the total amount of all funding provided to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi), while ISGlobal He joined this business alliance 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 in Mozambique and Ethiopia to combat pneumonia, a lung infection that remains the leading cause of death among children worldwide, which is why World Pneumonia Day is celebrated this Sunday. Every 42 seconds a child in the world dies from pneumonia On April 26 and 27, “la Caixa” Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Every Breath Counts Alliance The CaixaForum in Madrid hosted the second Children’s Pneumonia Forum, with the participation of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. 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) ).