Norway pledges one billion dlrs to vaccine programme

(Agence France Presse | 7 December 2005)

NEW DELHI - Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg Wednesday said his government would give one billion dollars over the next 10 years to support a global immunisation programme.

"It is unnecessary and unacceptable that a child dies every third second, that more than 26,000 children die every day," Stoltenberg told the inaugural session of a three-day international vaccine meeting.

Norway has contributed 135 million dollars in the last four years to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation programme (GAVI), a public-private partnership which organised the meeting in Delhi.

The function was also attended by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, who have also pledged their support to the vaccine alliance.

On Tuesday, Gates had announced his support to India's efforts to develop vaccines for tuberculosis.

Around 2.5 million children below five years die every year from preventable diseases worldwide.