Rome, Italy
[Remarks as Prepared]
DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR ISOBEL COLEMAN: Good morning. The United States has long been a dedicated champion of Gavi in its commendable efforts to improve vaccine access around the world.
As we’ve heard this morning, Gavi needs at least $9 billion in additional resources to achieve its ambitious goal to vaccinate over 500 million children – saving as many as nine million lives in the world’s poorest countries – between 2026-2030.
The United States stands behind this goal. At the launch of the Gavi replenishment in Paris in June, the U.S. pledged more than $1.5 billion over five years – representing nearly 17 percent of Gavi’s $9 billion funding goal and an eight percent increase from our total contributions in the current strategy period. We urge countries to join us in making bold commitments to Gavi’s next five years. We have an opportunity to send a strong signal from the G7 of our collective commitment to global health security and the African continent.
The United States was thrilled to see Gavi’s announcement on the launch of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, or AVMA, this summer. AVMA will help fulfill commitments made by the G7 in 2022 and 2023 to bolster sustainable local and regional vaccine manufacturing capability. We should see AVMA as an important step toward creating sustainability for vaccine manufacturing and access.
The United States strongly supports the development of regional vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa and around the world to help address supply and equity gaps and improve pandemic preparedness. We believe it’s critical to have a diversified supply base not only for vaccines, but also for diagnostics, medical supplies like personal protective equipment, and essential medicines. These steps are critical not only to meet the health challenges of today, but also to respond quickly to epidemics, pandemics, and other health emergencies of the future.
One of the strengths of Gavi’s proposed approach to regional vaccine manufacturing is that it relies on close partnership with local communities and national governments
Luckily, there is strong momentum among world leaders – including by regional bodies such as the African Union – to equip African countries to manufacture vaccines at scale for the continent.
Regional purchasing is emerging as a critical need for a successful and sustainable vaccine manufacturing market in Africa, and we hope AVMA will accelerate the mitigation of regulatory bottlenecks, stimulate investment in local infrastructure, and fast track dialogue on voluntary technology transfer.
Ultimately, creating resilience and sustainability for vaccine supply chains is not something governments can do on their own. The U.S. government prioritizes fostering public-private partnerships to catalyze investments and promote equitable access to essential medical supplies like vaccines. Engaging private sector partners, including pharmaceutical companies, will help accelerate vaccine development and manufacturing through innovative solutions and resources. We encourage collaboration among the public sector, private companies, and local manufacturers to facilitate voluntary technology transfer and the adoption of best practices that can lead to cost-effective and scalable production.
The United States looks forward to collaborating with Gavi, our G7 partners, the African Union, and Africa CDC to advance more of these sustainable improvements to African health systems – which will improve community wellbeing, build more resilience and redundancy in the global vaccine supply chain, help prepare for the health challenges of the future, and support local economic growth in the process. Thank you.