For more than a year now, ‘vaccine’ has become a word that people come across on a daily basis through newspapers, social media sites and other news media. With the revolutionary development of vaccines to fight the purge of the coronavirus diseases (COVID-19), world-wide vaccinations, travel passes etc, vaccination has become a common topic of discussion.
The fact is that vaccination or immunisation is nothing new, but infants and adults alike have been getting inoculated effectively against a variety of diseases for centuries. With the invention of world’s first vaccine by Edward Jenner in 1796 against smallpox, vaccination has quickly became a widespread practice.
It was followed by rabies vaccine invented by Louis Pasteur in 1885 and then with the dawn of bacteriology, development rapidly followed with antitoxins and vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, cholera, plague, typhoid, tuberculosis and more.
But there are still millions of children across the world who are afflicted with debilitating illnesses as a result of being deprived of access to vaccines. The foundation of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance), a public-private partnership in 2000, has brought in a sea change in world-wide immunisation with more children being inoculated with Gavi support.
Qatar has been extending its helping hand and contributing significantly to expand the availability of vaccine, especially to the marginalised people through the country’s cooperation with Gavi. Recently, Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) signed a five-year pact with Gavi and donated $10m to support Gavi’s efforts to enhance access to vaccines in lower-income countries. Through the agreement, QFFD will support Gavi to ensure that zero-dose children, those who are yet to receive a single dose of basic routine vaccine get access to immunisation.
According to Gavi, nearly 50 percent of zero-dose children live in three key geographic contexts, urban areas, remote communities and populations in conflict settings. Two-thirds of these children live in countries such as Nigeria, India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and Ethiopia and another 18 percent in live in 16 fragile countries.
QFFD has been at the forefront of vaccination in response of COVID-19, and had committed $10m through its Official Development Assistance in partnership with Gavi to support COVAX Advance Market Commitment in January this year. In April this year, Education Above All Foundation, an initiative by H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, partnered with Gavi to launch an integrated immunisation projects in Ethiopia and Kenya, which was supported by QFFD.
Despite the fact that Qatar’s humanitarian support and its efforts in peace-making often go under-reported by world media, the country is marching ahead with its assistance to the less-privileged people, spending millions of dollars and holding fast to its sworn principle.
