US to stop financial support of global vaccine alliance Gavi, health secretary says
June 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. will no longer contribute funding to Gavi, a global alliance that helps buy vaccines for the world's poorest children, because it ignores safety, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Wednesday, without providing evidence.
In a video statement seen by Reuters and shown at a Gavi fundraising event in Brussels, Kennedy - a long-time vaccine skeptic - also accused Gavi of making questionable recommendations around COVID-19 vaccines, and raised concerns about the DTPw (diphtheria-tetanus-whole cell pertussis) vaccine.
Gavi said in a statement that safety was key, and that it acts in line with World Health Organization recommendations. It has full confidence in the DTPw vaccine, which has contributed to halving child mortality in the countries it supports since 2000, the statement continued.
"I call on Gavi today to re-earn the public trust, and to justify the $8 billion that America has provided in funding since 2001," Kennedy said in the video, saying Gavi should consider all available science.
"Until that happens, the United States won't contribute more," he said.
The details of the video were first reported by Politico.
Gavi said it "fully concurs with the Secretary for Health and Human Services on the need to consider all available science, and remains committed to continuing an evidence-based and scientific approach to its work and investment decisions, as it always has done."
Gavi leaders, donors and countries it works with are in Brussels for the organization's pledging summit, where the alliance aims to raise $9 billion for its work from 2026-30.
Kennedy said in the video that he admired much of Gavi's work, particularly its efforts to make medicines affordable worldwide.
"Unfortunately, in its zeal to promote universal vaccination, it has neglected the key issue of vaccine safety," he added.
"Gavi's utmost concern is the health and safety of children," the group's statement responded.
Several key figures also defended Gavi's commitment to safety in speeches at the summit, including its board Chair Jose Manuel Barroso and Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, which is hosting the summit alongside the European Union.
"Gavi prioritizes saving lives, and it's done with incredible scientific rigor," said Gates. "We're constantly looking at safety."
The Trump administration has previously indicated that it planned to cut its funding for Gavi, around $300 million annually, as part of a wider pullback from international aid.
President Donald Trump's nominee for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez, was asked about the Gavi decision at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
"I believe the global health security preparedness is a critical and vital activity for the United States," she said.
"I think that we need to continue to support promotion of utilization of vaccines," she continued, adding that she was not involved in that decision-making and would look into it if confirmed.
Other donors, including Germany, Norway, and the Gates Foundation, have already pledged money in recent days for Gavi's future work.
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