Leading vaccine and aid experts are cautioning that any decrease in UK funding for global vaccination initiatives woudl undermine its soft power, potentially weaken the UK’s defenses against infectious diseases, and result in preventable child deaths.

Scientists, including Sir Andrew Pollard, who spearheaded the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid vaccine, suggest that a important reduction in funding for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) could also diminish the UK’s capacity to effectively respond to future pandemics.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has yet to announce its future funding commitment to Gavi, a Geneva-based public-private partnership that has facilitated the vaccination of over a billion children in developing nations.

The UK has historically been a major contributor to Gavi, providing over £2 billion in the past four years. Though, with the UK’s aid budget reduced from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income and a shift towards bilateral aid, a significant reduction is anticipated following Wednesday’s spending review.

Pollard, who heads the Oxford Vaccine Group, argues that maintaining similar levels of support is not only crucial for saving lives in developing countries but also serves the UK’s self-interest.

“it’s a safer place, obviously, for people who are in situations where they wouldn’t have been able to access these vaccines without the government support, but it also makes it a safe place for us, as it’s acting as part of the shield that we have against the spread of infectious diseases around the world,” he said.

Pollard noted that several vaccines utilized by Gavi, including a new malaria vaccine co-developed by Oxford University, originated in the UK. This pre-existing expertise and infrastructure proved invaluable when the Covid pandemic emerged.

“The Covid vaccine was developed on the back of years of funding, both from the UK funding sources of government, Wellcome Trust and so on, as well as international funders that put teams of people working on vaccines here in Oxford so we could than respond when a pandemic happened,” he said.

“If we weren’t doing this type of work, having the infrastructure and capabilities in the UK, we wouldn’t have been in a position to have such an impact so early in the pandemic against that virus.”

Cost-Effectiveness of Gavi

Dr Sandy Douglas, senior vaccinologist at Oxford University’s Jenner Institute, who led efforts to scale up production of the Covid vaccine, emphasized Gavi’s extraordinary cost-effectiveness, noting that estimates suggest a child’s life is saved for approximately every £1,200 spent.

“There really aren’t very many ways of spending money anywhere in the world that can save a child’s life for so little money,and do it scalably so hundreds of thousands of lives,millions of lives,are saved over time,” he said.

“The withdrawal or reduction of British funding to Gavi is going to result in the avoidable deaths of many children.”

“The withdrawal or reduction of British funding to Gavi is going to result in the avoidable deaths of many children. Labor played a leading role in establishing Gavi, and Gordon Brown designed the financing mechanism that helps it to operate. I think it’s something Labour should be proud of, among its greatest achievements since the NHS, probably.”

International Implications

Moazzam Malik, chief executive of Save the Children UK, and former director general for Africa at the FCDO, highlighted the UK’s ancient role as a key player in multilateral aid initiatives like Gavi and the Global Fund, which addresses HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria.

He warned that retracting from this role would be noticed globally: “People kind of appreciate that leadership. And if the UK decides to take a much more limited position, what the world would see from that is a sense of the UK pulling back.”

Gavi’s data indicates that it has vaccinated over 1.1 billion children across 78 countries in its 25 years of operation, preventing nearly 19 million deaths.

An FCDO spokesperson stated that Jenny Chapman, the international development minister, affirmed that “global health is a priority for this government and is a key issue as we modernise our approach to international development.”

“Whilst we would not comment on the size of future pledges before announcing them, we continue to work with our partners, including Gavi, on this crucial issue.”