Back to

Seth Berkley in Mozambique March 2012

Images from Seth's four-day visit to Maputo and Manhiça district (11-15 March).

  • Visiting the immunisation clinic at the Manhica District hospital, 70 km north of Maputo, GAVI CEO Seth Berkley meets mother Magdalena Silva. Her three-month-old daughter Armila is about to receive the first dose of pentavalent vaccine.
  • Seth administers the polio vaccine to Armilia Silva. Her 22-year-old mother Magdalena, who has two other daughters, walked for one hour to reach the clinic.
  • Outpatients wait for treatment in the Manhica hospital’s shady courtyard. The hospital, which is managed by the Manhica Foundation, serves a catchment area of 150,000 people.
  • Seth keeps one young patient entertained. With Mozambique’s rainy season in its second month, an estimated one in five of the children treated here are suffering from pneumonia.
  • Seth Berkley talks about the "Miracle of Vaccines" to a packed Aula Magna in Maputo University’s Faculty of Medicine. His speech is the centerpiece of the 4th Manhica Foundation seminar. Previous speakers include ex-GAVI Chair Graca Michal.
  • On his first official visit to the southern Africa region as GAVI CEO, Seth emphasises Africa’s opportunity to draw on a new generation of life-saving vaccines targeting the main causes of child mortality: pneumococcal disease and rotavirus.
  • "We are living in the ‘Renaissance age’ of new vaccines. When my father was born in the 1900s, there was only one vaccine. When I was born, there were a handful more. Now, my children have access to many many more."
  • Seth discusses the state of immunisation in Mozambique with Vice Minister of Health, Dr Nazira Abdula. Mozambique was one of the first-ever countries to receive GAVI support in 2001 but, 11 years later, there are signs that coverage rates are declining.
  • Journalists quiz Seth and Dr.Esperanza Sevene of the Manhica Health Research Centre. "At the moment, GAVI is purchasing vaccines for Mozambique, the question is to get them out to all the people of Mozambique."
Load more

Dr Seth Berkley was CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance from 2011–2023.

Last updated: 17 Aug 2023