Official launch of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pneumococcal Disease Prevention in the Developing World (14 Mar 2007)

House of Commons, Westminster, U.K., March 14, 2007 The Rt Hon Hilary Benn, the UK Secretary of State for International Development, was the keynote speaker amongst a group of leading experts who addressed the launch of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pneumococcal Disease Prevention in the Developing World.

"We are a major supporter of GAVI and I am pleased that the first Advance Market Commitment will be for a pneumococcal vaccine which will save the lives of an estimated 5.4 million children by 2030", said Mr Benn. "This is a momentous step forward; however there is still much work to be done to educate people on the burden of the disease and its impact on the world's poorest people."

Guests at the APPG launch included representatives from the governments of Angola, The Congo, Cameroon, Gambia, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda as well as the donor nations Italy and Russia, both of whom have committed to support the Advanced Market Commitment. Also in attendance were national and international representatives from civil society, the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry.

Internationally renowned speakers, including Dr Thomas Cherian of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Orin Levine, Executive Director of PneumoADIP and Marc Hofstetter, Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the GAVI Alliance, discussed the burden of pneumococcal disease and the most effective way to prevent it.

Dr Cherian noted that more than 90% of pneumococcal deaths in children occur in developing countries and stated that, "in Africa for example, pneumococcal disease claims the lives of hundreds of thousands of children each year."

Dr Levine detailed how vaccination can help improve life chances for the poorest and reduce inequalities. The positive impact of vaccination was further illustrated by a preview of the BBC World documentary Kill or Cure? filmed on location in Africa.

Mr Hofstetter explained that innovative finance mechanisms, such as the recently launched pilot Advance Market Commitment for pneumococcal vaccine, are crucial to ensure an affordable, sustainable supply of vaccines for the world's children.

The APPG will run alongside organisations such as GAVI's PneumoADIP, whose mission is to prevent pneumococcal disease and promote vaccination programmes.

The group's chair, Dr Desmond Turner MP, said the APPG will work as a forum in the heart of Parliament for raising awareness among policymakers nationally, across Europe and around the world about pneumococcal, its prevention through vaccination, and international efforts to ensure sustainable financing.

For the full transcript of the Rt Hon Hilary Benn's speech go to: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/Speeches/hilary-diseasemar07.asp