UN launches new coalition to boost vaccine access

The Shot@Life initiative focuses on the potential for vaccination programmes to save a child’s life every 20 seconds, and brings together a coalition of vaccine advocates to help get the message across.

The Bill & Melinda Foundation, UNICEF, the GAVI Alliance, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Red Cross, Lions Clubs International and ABC News’ Million Moms Challenge initiative have joined forces to help build public support for essential immunisations against diseases like polio, measles, diarrhoea and pneumonia.

Shot@Life has produced a series of videos stressing the value of vaccines in allowing children in the world’s poorest countries to live healthier and more productive lives – given them some of the opportunities available to children in the developed world.

The powerful but simple message – ‘Vaccines are the best investment we can make in global health’ – comes in the wake of a landmark deal between vaccine manufacturers, governments and NGOs designed to make vaccines cheaper for developing countries.

Philanthropists like Bill Gates, along with international organisations including the UN and the WHO, have stepped up the fight against preventable diseases. Polio in particular has come into focus as countries fight to eradicate it by 2015.

With momentum building, the new Shot@Life initiative by the UN Foundation confirms that all the major players see cooperation as the only route to success.

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