UK to give £814 million towards VACCINATION ?

[Guest guest]

Cameron pledges ANOTHER £814m towards vaccinating the world's

poorest children (on top of £2bn we are already going to

donate)By

Groves

Last updated at 7:21 AM on 14th June 2011 The Daily Mail

UK

<?xml:namespace prefix = fb ns =

" http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml " />

Comments (1452)

Add to My Stories

Share

Britain's ballooning overseas aid budget was under fresh scrutiny last

night as it emerged the UK will donate five times more than the U.S. to a

multi-billion-pound international initiative.

Cameron yesterday pledged a further £814million of taxpayers’ money

to a child vaccine programme run by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates,

taking the country’s total contribution to £1.5billion.

And the Prime Minister lashed out at Tory critics who warned the generous

aid spending was making Britain a ‘soft touch’ in the eyes of the

world.

Cameron, speaking at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and

Immunisation conference, has promised increased global aid from

Britain

Mr Cameron said: ‘There is a strong moral case for keeping our promises

to the world’s poorest and helping them even when we face challenges at

home.’

He told a conference in London that people should be ‘proud’ of the

Coalition’s pledge to increase aid spending by 34 per cent to more than

£12billion.

More...

I read the Koran every day says former prime minister Tony Blair who

claims it keeps him 'faith literate'

Is Mark Zuckerberg engaged? Bill Gates lets slip that his billionaire pal

may be about to update his Facebook status

Protecting the World Service is vital, says BBC chief Lord

Patten

Cameron faces Tory mutiny as gloating Lib Dems claim victory on

health reforms

Lansley under heavy fire after Cameron's consultation committee attacks

his NHS reforms

The donation to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation will

come from the existing budget of the Department for International

Development, which has been ring-fenced despite the pressure on the

economy and cutbacks elsewhere.

The pledge – praised by Mr Gates as ‘human generosity at its finest’ –

makes Britain by far the largest donor.

As well as being more than five times the £274million pledged by the

U.S., it is more than 30 times higher than Germany’s £44million and

almost 50 times the £30million given by Spain. Japan gave just

£5.5million, while China gave nothing.

Raj Shah, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said

America could not afford to give more because it was facing a ‘very

difficult budget environment’.

Line-up (l-r): Seth Berkley, incoming Chief Executive Officer of Gavi

Alliance, Ellen -Sirleaf, President of Liberia, Princess Cristina,

La Caixa Foundation, Cameron, Bill Gates, Mr , and Dagfinn

Hoybraten, Chair of the GAVI Alliance board

In total the fund received £365million more than it had asked for and

organisers admitted they did not know how the extra cash would be

spent.

Delegates at the aid conference – held in the incongruous surroundings of

a five-star London hotel – gave Mr Cameron an ovation for his

pledge.

He said the new money would pay to vaccinate more than 80 million

children against diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, helping to

save 1.4 million lives.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that increasing aid spending was

‘controversial’ at a time of cutbacks at home. And he said people were

‘right to be angry when aid is badly spent’. But he insisted the answer

was to improve the way money is spent – not to cut it.

His comments provoked criticism at home.

Bill Gates speaking today during a television interview at the Gavi

conference. He revealed at the conference that his Bill and Gates

Foundation was pledging an additional $1billion to the cause

The Prime Minister addresses the conference, which is discussing how to

generate the funds to ensure children receive protection against

potentially fatal diseases

Tory MP Bone said that while few would argue with vaccinating

children, it was unclear why Britain was giving such a disproportionate

amount.

‘I am sure taxpayers in Germany will be delighted that we are leading the

way. I’m afraid we are becoming a soft touch,’ he said.

‘People find it very hard to understand why we are doing this when

libraries are closing, lollipop ladies are being sacked, potholes need

repairing and people are finding life tough.’

Fellow Tory Philip Davies said Mr Cameron had ‘got it wrong’ by putting

foreign aid ahead of domestic priorities.

‘The Prime Minister says there is a strong moral case to keep our

promises on overseas aid,’ he said.

‘But there is also a strong case for keeping our promises at home – such

as sending more criminals to prison. If we haven’t got money for one then

we haven’t got it for the other.’

Forsyth, of charity Save the Children, said Mr Cameron deserved

‘enormous credit’, adding: ‘I don’t think we should underestimate the

huge support among the British public for vaccinating children.’

Too late: Mother-of-five Mame Bockarie is pictured here with

three-month-old baby daughter Yabeh, whose sister Isata died in a Sierra

Leone hospital of pneumonia aged 14 months. She had not been

immunised.

Saving lives in Sierra Leone: Two of Hawa Sesay's (left) babies died

before being immunised. Pictured here with six-month-old son Ibrahim, the

mother-of-five from Sierra Leone said she was happy the vaccines were now

being made available as it could save her son's life. Mother-of-three

Wuya Sannoh's (right) son Abubakarr would have died from pneumonia had he

not gone to hospital for treatment.

Who pays for what

British volunteers in vaccine drive... a closer look

at where British money will be

spent

Saving lives: Dr Shona ston has seen first hand how important

vaccines are during her eight month stay in Freetown, Sierra Leone at the

Ola During Children's Hospital

British volunteers are helping deliver life saving vaccinations to

children in the world's poorest countries.

Dr Shona ston has for eight months been helping staff the crowded

wards of the Ola During Children's Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone,

where the nation's most desperately ill children are sent for

treatment.

The paediatrician has seen the benefit brought by the Sierra Leonean

government's commitment to provide free healthcare and vaccination during

her stint in the capital city's bustling east end.

It is a world away from her roots in Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands off

the north coast of Scotland.

But she stressed how important funds to provide vaccines we in the UK

take for granted would be to mothers and children in Sierra Leone.

Many of the children Dr ston treats suffer from malnutrition,

pneumonia, or diarrhoea.

Vaccinations against these illnesses, which account for over 40 per cent

of child deaths in the west African state, would save many

lives.

The 31-year-old said: 'Most of the children who are admitted here have

infectious diseases, in particular malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoeal

infections. There are also some who are malnourished and who have

tuberculosis.

'They come from across Freetown and across the country when they are

referred by the health visitors whose job it is to get to the people in

the most hard to reach areas of the country where access to healthcare is

that much more difficult.'

SIX-FIGURE PAY FOR ANTI POVERTY BOSSA

controversial Government-owned aid agency is offering a six-figure salary

to tempt a chief executive.

The Commonwealth Development Corporation is looking for an expert in

banking or private equity to invest £2.5billion of taxpayers’ money in an

anti-poverty drive in developing countries.

The move follows the announcement that existing chief executive

Laing will step down early next year. He made headlines after pocketing

almost £1million in salary and bonuses in 2007.

Fellow executives at the organisation – owned by the Department for

International Development – earned an average £435,000.

CDC faced further criticism when the Daily Mail revealed last year that

executives had run up lavish expenses staying in five-star hotels and

treating each other to meals in London’s finest restaurants.

The organisation – set up following the Second World War – also faced

questions over its investment strategy, which critics said focused too

much on ‘easy wins’ rather than difficult projects in the poorest

countries.

The revelations prompted International Development Secretary

to order a review of the organisation – including a crackdown on

excessive salaries.

A DFID spokesman said: ‘CDC must bring pay and bonuses down to a level

that is fair and appropriate for a publicly owned body whose purpose is

to reduce poverty.

‘The search for a new chief executive has started and this promises to be

one of the most worthwhile jobs anywhere in the financial world.’

Dr ston divides her time between providing clinical care for the

children and training up the Sierra Leonean medical students who are

about to graduate.

She said: 'It is very very different to working in a British hospital.

For one thing, in the UK there would be more doctors and a lot more

equipment.'

Dr ston thought hard about agreeing to travel to Sierra Leone after

she was offered a placement.

The country was devastated by war in the early 1990's, when rebel forces

became notorious for using unimaginably brutal tactics to establish their

dominance and attacking the capital of Freetown during a campaign called

'Operation Kill Every Living Thing'.

She was worried about the history of violence, and also about being away

from home.

She said: 'It's been hard being away from my husband but this is

something I had always wanted to do. But when VSO offered the place in

Sierra Leone I did a lot of reading and there was obviously a huge need

here.'

She said despite the country's war torn past she had never felt unsafe

during her visit.

'It is a very safe place to be, actually; very friendly and very

beautiful. It has been one of the hardest things I have ever done, but

also one of the best.'

In January, Sierra Leone began immunising infants against pneumococcal

disease, the leading cause of severe pneumonia.

She said the vaccine, with a new vaccine to immunise children from the

leading cause of diarrhoea, had the potential to save a huge number of

lives.

The hospital has currently about 200 children admitted and is treating

about 80 cases a day.

The staff are seeing many cases of malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia in

the baby units. There is also a ward for malnourished children.

The caseload is handled by six doctors, including Dr ston and Dr

Baion, the medical superintendent and paediatrician at the

hospital, and three shifts of nurses.

Dr ston said: 'Pneumonia and diarrheal diseases between them account

for about 40 per cent of infant deaths in Sierra Leone, so the vaccines

being introduced will hopefully prevent the most common causes of these

diseases.

'Hopefully, they will make a very big impact on the health of children

here. Prevention is always better than cure. It will make a huge

difference to the health service.'

Sierra Leone has an extremely high infant mortality rate (123 per 1000

live births, according to the WHO).

In January, with Gavi support, the country introduced a new vaccine that

will protect children from pneumococcal disease, the leading cause of

pneumonia.

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone hopes its

application for support in introducing rotavirus vaccines, which protect

children against the leading cause of severe infant diarrhoea, will be

successful.

Since 2000, Gavi has also introduced pentavalent and yellow fever

vaccinations, as well as immunisation services and health system

strengthening support totalling over 24 million US dollars.

Promise: The increased commitment being promised by Cameron means

that Britain aims to vaccinate more than 80 million children and save 1.4

million lives by 2015

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2002898/-Cameron-pledges-814m-vaccinating-worlds-poorest-children.html#ixzz1PEWSsjnS

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Washington State, USA

Vaccines -

http://vaccinationdangers.wordpress.com/ Homeopathy

http://homeopathycures.wordpress.com

Vaccine Dangers, Childhood Disease Classes & Homeopathy

Online/email courses - next classes start April 22