Gates, UK take lead in $7.5 bln pledge for children’s vaccines

International donors pledged $7.5 billion on Tuesday to immunise 300 million children in poor countries against deadly diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia. At a Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) conference in Berlin, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the British government topped the donations list at $1.55 billion and $1.5 billion respectively. German development minister Gerd Mueller said the total reached $7.54 billion, surpassing GAVI’s target of $7.5 billion, despite a stronger dollar complicating funding efforts. Other major donors included the United States, Norway and Germany. China, a recipient of GAVI assistance early last decade, has now become a donor. “It was a bold ask to world leaders but also a very compelling case,” said GAVI chairman Dagfinn Hoybraten. “In the course of five years from 2016 to 2020 we could vaccinate another 300 million children and avert 5-6 million future deaths.” Gates, who has donated $4 billion to GAVI since it began...