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<p>The UK believes all children should have access to lifesaving vaccines and is committed
to supporting vaccination uptake internationally through our investment in Gavi, the
Vaccine Alliance. In 2017 alone, 65 million children in the world’s poorest countries
were immunised through Gavi support.</p><p> </p><p>Immunisation coverage is the best
way to measure vaccine uptake. Gavi monitor this at international, national and local
levels. This provides an accurate picture of population immunity levels crucial to
preventing deadly disease outbreaks. Through UK support to Gavi, immunisation coverage
has increased substantially across the world’s poorest countries from a baseline of
66% in 2000 to 80% in 2017. This coverage is now on par with the global average of
85%. Despite the increased coverage, the UK remains concerned about reports of anti-vaccination
campaigns and vaccine hesitancy. This has the potential to undermine hard-fought gains
in protecting children from vaccine preventable diseases. Gavi recognises this and
works through civil society and local community groups to address community concerns
or fears and ensure that there is strong trust in vaccines.</p><p> </p><p>The UK will
support efforts to improve vaccine uptake internationally by ensuring Gavi’s future
strategy focuses on increasing access to vaccines for the world’s most marginalised
children and continues to work at local levels with civil society groups to address
local concerns and counter false claims and misinformation. The UK’s hosting of Gavi’s
Pledging Conference next year will also demonstrate this continued commitment.</p>
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