INDIA donates 15 million USD to Gavi Vaccine Alliance

INDIA has pledged 15 million USD  to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private global health partnership headquartered in Geneva with the mission of increasing access to immunisation in poor countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this while addressing the virtual Global Vaccine Summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on June 4.Over countries, business leaders, UN agencies, civil society, Ministers and Heads of State participated in the virtual Summit. Modi said India stands in solidarity with the world in these challenging times. India’s civilization teaches that the world is one family and that during this pandemic, the country had tried to live up to this teaching. India shared the country’s available stocks of medicines with over 120 countries. This was done by forging a common response strategy in its immediate neighbourhood and by providing specific support to countries that sought it while protecting India’s own vast population, PM Modi added. COVID19 pandemic has exposed the limitations of global cooperation and for the first time in recent history, the mankind faces a clear common enemy, Modi said one of the first programmes launched by his government was Mission Indradhanush, which aims to ensure full vaccination of the country’s children and pregnant women. He said in order to expand protection, India has added six new vaccines to its National Immunization Programme.PM Modi recalled that India has digitized its entire vaccine supply line and developed an electronic vaccine intelligence network to monitor the integrity of its cold chain.