Exclusive: Scientists also say any reduction in Foreign Office funding for vaccine alliance Gavi would harm UK’s soft power
Any cut in UK funding to a global vaccination group would damage soft power and could make British less resilient to infectious diseases, as well as causing avoidable deaths among children, leading vaccine and aid experts have warned.
Scientists including Sir Andrew Pollard, who led the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, said a major cut in money for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) could also make the UK less able to respond to a future pandemic.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has not yet set out its future funding for Gavi, a Geneva-based public-private organisation that has vaccinated more than a billion children in developing countries.
The UK has previously been one of Gavi’s main funders, providing more than £2bn over the last four years. But with the UK aid budget cut back from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% and the focus shifting towards bilateral aid the expectation is that there will be a major reduction at Wednesday’s spending review.
