Gavi Board Focuses on Health Impact As Priority Guiding Principle In a Resources Constrained World

* Gavi Board Chair Professor José Manuel Barroso: “I want to thank our donors for the significant amount of support already pledged and I am hopeful that with the support of other donors that have not yet been able to pledge, Gavi can look forward to its most ambitious strategic period yet.”

The Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance this week endorsed a series of adjustments to bring Gavi’s strategy for its next five-year period (2026-2030) in line with available resources while it Gavi continues to engage with donors that have not yet been able to pledge support. The Board also passed a range of measures including a new strategic approach to protecting children in fragile and humanitarian settings, introducing RSV vaccines and establishing a stockpile for Mpox vaccines.

Commenting on the two-day Board Meeting, Professor José Manuel Barroso said: “I am confident the decisions taken by Gavi’s Board represent the best way of sustaining Gavi’s mission to save lives and protect health through immunisation in a time of constrained resources. I want to thank our donors for the significant amount of support already pledged and I am hopeful that with the support of other donors that have not yet been able to pledge, Gavi can look forward to its most ambitious strategic period yet.”

“These adjustments to our strategy complement the bold steps we are taking through our Gavi Leap transformation programme to revolutionise our ways of working and place countries truly at the heart of their national immunisation programmes. I want to thank our Board for the resounding support they showed to these efforts, and for their encouragement that the Gavi Leap feed into a broader reform of global health,” said Dr Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Adjusting for a resource-constrained world

Gavi’s donors have committed significant volumes of 5-year funding, however in response to an estimated shortfall of US$ 3 billion for the coming five-year strategy period, Gavi’s Board held a special meeting to evaluate a range of options for bringing strategic objectives into line with committed resources. With health impact as a guiding principle and the importance of the Gavi 6.0 strategy reaffirmed by the Board, the pathway selected by the Board will see a slowdown in some Gavi-supported immunisation programmes. In order to minimise this impact, Gavi will continue to engage with donors that have not yet been able to pledge support due to their domestic budgetary cycles, with the aim of fully meeting its US$11.9 billion fundraising target.

Fragile and Humanitarian approach: shifting gears

In 2024, Gavi implementing countries achieved historic progress: more people were protected against more diseases than ever before, and immunisation coverage is steadily recovering from pandemic-era setbacks. However, fragility, conflict, and demographic pressures continue to limit access for millions.

Building on lessons learned, Gavi’s Board agreed to sharpen its focus on children living in fragile and humanitarian settings. The new strategic approach will deepen engagement to immunise children in crisis-affected settings, expand outreach to children up to age five, increase support to underserved subnational regions, and strengthen collaboration with humanitarian actors. It will also introduce a new agile funding tool – the Gavi Resilience Mechanism - to respond rapidly to unforeseen country needs such as outbreaks and emergencies that are not covered through existing support mechanisms. This includes middle-income countries facing acute shocks. These shifts aim to embed immunisation as a core component of humanitarian health response and enhance the Alliance’s capacity to operate in complex and volatile environments.

Introduction of RSV on the horizon

In a step to protect newborns and infants against one of the leading causes of pneumonia, the Board approved the opening of a funding window for the establishment of a Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) maternal vaccine programme. The decision follows the prequalification of the first RSV maternal vaccine in March 2025 and paves the way for country introductions to begin in the near future.

Moving forward with an mpox stockpile

To further support global health security, the Gavi Board approved the opening of a funding window for the establishment of an mpox emergency vaccine stockpile. Proposed to be managed by the International Coordinating Group (ICG), the stockpile will enable the rapid deployment of vaccines at the outset of an outbreak. The stockpile complements ongoing efforts by Gavi and global and regional partners to tackle the on-going mpox emergency in Africa and through response to future outbreaks, has the potential to prevent thousands of severe cases and significantly reduce transmission in high-risk settings.

A New Health System Strategy

The Board also approved Gavi's first ever health systems strategy to help countries reach children with lifesaving vaccines, regardless of where they live and to sustain high and equitable vaccination coverage. The strategy identifies key priorities for Gavi support and includes important shifts to support countries, including more differentiated and tailored programming, a simplified funding model, a deliberate approach to primary healthcare, alignment with other funding partners, a focus on innovation and strengthened measurement and learning.

New funding policies and evolving the way Gavi works with its partners

In light of ongoing economic pressures, revisions to Gavi’s eligibility, transition, and co-financing policies were additionally approved, requiring countries to take on greater financial responsibility for their vaccination programmes. To help countries plan more effectively for these programmes, a revised Health Systems and Immunization Strengthening (HSIS) policy with consolidated funding levers and simplified processes received final board approval, paving the way for official implementation in 2026. The board also approved a new partnership and accountability framework to bolster transparency and drive measurable impact across global, regional, and country-level partnerships.

Appointments and process updates

Yibing Wu was reappointed as Chair of the Investment Committee and as an Unaffiliated Board Member Omar Abdi was reappointed as Vice Chair of the Board and as Chair of the Governance Committee

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