H.Res. 848

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 848 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 848

Supporting the role of the United States in helping save the lives of 
children and protecting the health of people in low-income countries 
with vaccines and immunization through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance 
(``Gavi'').

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 31, 2025

Mr. Kean (for himself, Mr. Amo, Ms. Salazar, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Mr. 
Lawler) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Supporting the role of the United States in helping save the lives of 
children and protecting the health of people in low-income countries 
with vaccines and immunization through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance 
(``Gavi'').

Whereas, prior to 2000, the distribution of and the resources for vaccines for 
children in the developing world were declining, immunization rates were 
stagnant or decreasing, and nearly 10,000,000 children died each year 
before reaching their 5th birthday;
Whereas, prior to 2000, it was common for new lifesaving vaccines to take up to 
15 years to be introduced in the world's most impoverished countries;
Whereas, access to routine immunization and vaccines protects children from 
deadly but preventable diseases and contributes to national economic 
growth and poverty reduction by ensuring people live longer, healthier, 
and more productive lives;
Whereas, in 2000, the United States, the United Nations Children's Fund 
(UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, 
government donors, lower-income country governments, foundations 
(including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), the private sector 
(including the vaccine industry), faith-based organizations, civil 
society, and other partners joined forces to create a public-private 
partnership now known as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in order to expand 
access to new and underused vaccines and support the introduction and 
scaleup of these vaccines into routine immunization systems in the 
world's most impoverished countries;
Whereas, from 2000 through 2023, with support from the United States, and other 
donors and partners, Gavi has supported country-led vaccine initiatives 
in 78 countries to support the immunization of more than 1,100,000,000 
additional children and averted an estimated 18,800,000 deaths in the 
world's most impoverished countries;
Whereas Gavi has been a major contributor in reducing the number of childhood 
deaths in lower-income countries due to vaccine-preventable disease by 
70 percent since 2000;
Whereas country ownership and sustainability are at the core of the Gavi model, 
which requires Gavi-eligible countries to contribute to a portion of 
vaccine costs and directly invest in immunizing children, and Gavi-
supported countries contributed more than $1,700,000,000 to immunization 
campaigns between 2008 and 2023;
Whereas 78 low-income countries currently provide co-financing for new and 
underused vaccines supported by Gavi, more than 19 countries have 
transitioned from Gavi support by the end of 2022, and an additional 10 
countries may transition by 2040, moving toward fully funding their 
immunization programs;
Whereas Gavi has transformed the market for vaccines by matching pooled demand 
from low-income countries with secure, predictable financing to make 
vaccines more affordable and supply more reliable, reducing the price of 
the most common vaccines by 24 percent from 2015 to 2020 and increasing 
the number of global vaccine manufacturers selling pre-qualified Gavi-
supported vaccines to the world's most impoverished countries from 5 in 
2001 to 19 in 2023;
Whereas Gavi estimates that its market shaping efforts will result in savings of 
over $900,000,000 from 2021 to 2025 and may encourage research and 
development of new vaccines;
Whereas Gavi is poised to provide the most comprehensive package of support in 
the 2021 to 2025 period by financing and delivering 18 vaccines to the 
world's most impoverished countries;
Whereas Gavi is collaborating with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative on 
the final push to end polio, and expanding the integration of the 
inactivated polio vaccine into routine immunization programs;
Whereas Gavi has made significant progress in supporting the development and 
stockpiling of effective vaccines to combat cholera, measles, 
meningococcal, yellow fever, and Ebola, which could also protect 
Americans in the event of an outbreak on United States soil;
Whereas malaria is one of most long-standing and deadliest diseases in Africa, 
and in 2022, malaria killed an estimated 580,000 children in Africa, 78 
percent of whom were children under five;
Whereas Gavi has begun deliveries of new malaria vaccines and will expand the 
program to dozens of countries as vaccine supply becomes available;
Whereas Gavi allocated 18,000,000 doses of the malaria vaccine RTS,S in 2023 and 
2024, the World Health Organization estimates that at least 40,000,000 
to 60,000,000 doses will be needed annually by 2026 and 80,000,000 to 
100,000,000 doses will be needed by 2030;
Whereas Gavi is supporting expanded procurement, access, and implementation of 
new malaria vaccine programs to help meet rising demand;
Whereas data from malaria vaccine trials indicate that these vaccines can save 
one life for every 200 children vaccinated, with the potential for 
significantly impacting public health and saving tens of thousands of 
lives annually;
Whereas Gavi supports the strengthening of health systems to ensure effective 
immunization and health services, including through the provision of 
cold chain equipment that can also be effectively repurposed for 
emergency response, as was demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas, through COVAX, Gavi and global partners delivered nearly 2,000,000,000 
doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 146 economies, and averted an estimated 
2,700,000 deaths in Advance Market Commitment lower-income participating 
economies;
Whereas Gavi provided additional vaccine support to address health service 
interruptions that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and contributed 
to the largest backslide in routine childhood immunization in 30 years, 
and focused on the 14,000,000 ``zero-dose'' children in Gavi-supported 
countries who had not received a single vaccine;
Whereas vaccine programs are widely regarded as high-impact, evidence-based 
interventions and are among the most efficient, cost-effective, and 
successful health initiatives in history, returning over $54 in health 
and economic savings for every $1 invested in Gavi-supported countries;
Whereas the prevention of infectious disease through immunization in Gavi-
eligible countries provides protection and health security in the United 
States by reducing the prevalence of infectious diseases and stemming 
outbreaks at their source;
Whereas United States investment in Gavi complements and enhances the 
effectiveness of other United States investments in global health, 
particularly in maternal and child health and nutrition;
Whereas Gavi is committed to working with partners, including United States 
bilateral programs administrated by the Department of State and the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (``CDC''), to ensure children 
in developing nations have access to lifesaving vaccines and 
immunizations;
Whereas Gavi's next strategic cycle will cover the strategic period of 2026 to 
2030, which will include the expansion of Gavi's malaria program with 
plans to provide 50,000,000 doses to children in Gavi-supported 
countries;
Whereas the United States has consistently supported the goal of saving lives by 
contributing annually to Gavi to meet its projected replenishment and 
program goals;
Whereas, with this support and support from other donors, Gavi contributed 
$250,000,000,000 in economic benefits in Gavi countries as of 2023, with 
each $1 invested yielding $54 return on investment; and
Whereas an increased commitment from the United States remains necessary to 
ensure predictability and stability to the vaccine market, to enable 
strong global health security efforts, spur confidence in Gavi-eligible 
countries, and encourage continued innovative vaccine-related 
approaches: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) affirms the continued support of the United States 
Government for the purchase of vaccines for low-income 
countries through Gavi as a cost-effective, efficient means to 
reduce mortality and as a critical component of meeting the 
United States goal to end preventable child and maternal 
deaths;
(2) supports the principles and goals of Gavi to--
(A) introduce and scale up new and routine 
immunizations in low-income countries;
(B) improve sustainability of immunization 
programs;
(C) ensure healthy markets for vaccines and related 
products; and
(D) strengthen health systems to increase equity in 
immunization;
(3) recognizes that United States Government support for 
Gavi is a critical component to ensuring health security in the 
United States;
(4) encourages the continued use of Department of State 
maternal and child health and CDC global immunization resources 
to strengthen local public health capacity to introduce and 
sustain new and underutilized vaccines supported by Gavi 
through routine immunization systems;
(5) recognizes the need for multiyear pledges from the 
United States to allow Gavi to maximize its impact to provide 
lifesaving vaccines and to leverage contributions from other 
countries and donors; and
(6) encourages continued increased commitment and 
investment by the United States Government to Gavi in the 2026 
to 2030 strategic period in order to ensure that lives are 
protected and saved through access to vaccines and 
immunizations.
<all>