Immunization is one of the most successful, cost-effective health interventions in history. Vaccines don’t just save lives, they help children grow up healthier, do better in school, and go on to contribute more to their communities and economies. Over the past 50 years, global immunization efforts have saved at least 150 million lives, two out of every three of them infants. And few investments in health pay off like this one: every dollar spent returns 16 times its value.

However, more than a million and a half million children still die from vaccine-preventable diseases every year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. We could avert many of these deaths by reaching more children with the vaccines that are already available, rolling out vaccines that exist but haven’t reached every country yet, and getting new vaccines to people as soon as they are ready. The world is not on track to meet the WHO 2030 Immunization Agenda. Vaccine coverage in low- and middle-income countries remains far short of the 90 percent target, and the number of zero-dose children who receive no vaccines at all hasn’t materially improved since 2010—a problem only made harder by shrinking foreign aid funding. Getting back on track will take governments willing and able to make immunization a priority, and to deliver it well.

That same readiness work extends to where vaccines are made. To enable a better response to future health emergencies and grow Africa’s share of its own vaccine supply, we support the local vaccine manufacturing ecosystem on the continent to plan for the commercialization of vaccines that are close to reaching the market.

Alongside our partners, including the Gates Foundation; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI); ELMA Group of Foundations; Insight to Impact LLC; JSI Research & Training; Temasek Foundation; and Coefficient Giving, our work benefits more than 45 million children born every year across the countries we directly support.