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The UK has reduced funding to a global vaccine alliance that immunises millions of children by £400 million, amid a wider raft of foreign aid cuts that campaigners fear will cost lives.
Gavi – formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunsations – helps buy vaccines and deliver them to low-income countries. It has set a goal of vaccinating 500 million children against diseases including measles, cholera and malaria over the next five years – saving up to eight million lives.
Gavi is aiming to raise $9 billion (£6.6bn) for the next five years. The UK is one of Gavi's largest donors and has pledged £1.25 billion between 2026 and 2030. However, £1.65bn was pledged between 2021 and 2025.
The ONE campaign, a poverty and health campaign group estimates the cut could lead to 365,000 extra deaths over five years and 23 million fewer child vaccinations, based on Gavi's own costs data.
Adrian Lovett, the ONE Campaign’s UK Executive Director, said: “This is an important pledge from the UK to Gavi, a vital force in the fight against preventable disease. Today’s announcement will save an amazing 1.1 million lives and lead to an incredible 72 million children being immunised around the world."
“But despite this good news, we are seeing the harsh impact of deep cut to overall aid levels. The UK’s contribution to Gavi could have saved almost 400,000 more lives if it had been maintained at the same level as before. And further impossible choices are looming. A reduced but still strong investment in Gavi, as welcome as it is, means less money to educate girls, fight for climate justice, and prevent deadly conflict around the world.”
While Gavi raises funds from a mix of governments, philanthropists and private donors including Shell, TikTok, Coca Cola and even the Mormon Church, the UK government has regularly topped the list of biggest donors. And the impact of the donation cut will likely be felt even more acutely with the US having already signalled it wants to remove funding for Gavi from its 2026 budget, with Donald Trump having already having slashed billions from America's foreign aid contributions.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "Gavi’s global impact is undeniable. Over 1 billion children vaccinated, over 18 million lives saved, over $250 billion injected into the global economy.
“I’m immensely proud of the role the UK has played in reaching these milestones.”
Dr Philip Goodwin, Chief Executive Officer for the UK Committee for UNICEF, said: “This pledge from the UK government will bring Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, closer to its ambitious goal of reaching another 500 million children worldwide...However, cuts to the aid budget still pose a grave threat to children.
"We urge the UK Government to maximise this Gavi commitment by also funding other critical health services that make immunisation fully effective. That includes nutrition and primary health care which children need to survive and thrive. Committing at least 25 per cent of the UK aid budget to children will support the full range of services needed to ensure children grown up healthy and happy.”
If it ends up with a funding shortfall, Gavi will face difficult choices about what to contribute to and what to cut back on – including the balance between vaccines used to prevent future disease compared with vaccines sent in response to emergency disease outbreaks.
Gavi maintains stockpiles of vaccines so that, during a sudden disease outbreak, poorer countries can quickly access vaccines. The group says it has shipped tens of millions of doses from its global cholera stockpile, sent Mpox vaccines to Sierra Leone and Kenya and made yellow fever vaccines available to Colombia during a recent outbreak.
As well as protecting the countries receiving the vaccines, this is part of preventing pandemics that cross borders.
Nineteen countries formerly funded by the alliance have “graduated” from Gavi funding since 2016 and are now able to pay for vaccines through their own national budgets. The alliance says its aim is for, “all countries to eventually reach this stage – and for Gavi to put itself out of business”.
Gavi CEO Dr Sania Nishtar said: “Since 2000, we have helped halve child mortality in under-fives and today we are able to save even more lives as we roll out protections against malaria and cervical cancer.
“This is progress that we simply cannot afford to lose: the lives of 500 million children depend on it.”
This piece has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid series
