Statement by GAVI Alliance Board Chair, Dagfinn Høybräten 

Berlin, 9 May 2011 - Saving children's lives through increased immunisation in poor countries also requires healthy vaccine markets with secure supply, competition, and low, transparent prices, Dagfinn Høybräten, the GAVI Alliance Board Chair, said on Monday.

Achieving our goal depends not only on increased donations, but also upon a healthy vaccine market.

Dagfinn Høybräten, Board Chair, GAVI 

The GAVI Alliance is looking to raise another US$ 3.7 billion for its 2011-2015 programme to immunise 243 million children, but Mr Høybräten told a conference in Berlin that markets are also key.

"GAVI's goal is to prevent children and adults dying from vaccine preventable diseases. Our business model is that we pool demand from countries for vaccines, and pool donor funds to buy vaccines," he said. 

"We helped build a $1bn market for vaccines in developing countries which did not exist before. We have created the conditions for manufacturers to produce vaccines at lower prices and bigger volumes, which meet the needs of developing countries, with more than half our suppliers in emerging markets," he added. 

"Achieving our goal depends not only on increased donations, but also upon a healthy vaccine market, with security of supply and competition from a range of producers, with prices transparent and as low as possible," he said.

Mr Høybräten was attending an international conference in Berlin to discuss public private partnerships in advancing global health.

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