mr president i would like to bring the house away from lifts and back to vaccines which prevent deaths
i think that is exactly what we should be focusing on
of course i support the call that we have heard relating to the a h one n one virus but i want to look much wider in fact commissioner there are systems that work and vaccines do work
look at pneumococcal disease
it is a bacterial infection that causes pneumonia meningitis and sepsis and is relatively unknown despite its deadly status as the leading vaccine-preventable killer of children under five worldwide
pneumococcal bacteria are the leading cause of pneumonia which takes the lives of two million children every year
this is a global health challenge with solutions
it might interest you to know that the commission and many member states have already made pledges to support immunisation in the world's poorest countries by supporting gavi the international finance facility for immunisation and the pneumococcal advance market commitment amc something you did not mention
but we can and we must do more to prioritise pneumococcal disease within existing health and development efforts and to work with developing countries to do the same
the pneumococcal amc offers an unprecedented opportunity for countries to protect their children from this preventable killer
yet the sad fact is that of the seventy-one countries that are eligible fewer than twenty have applied for amc funding that will save so many lives
i would remind the house that expanded access to essential vaccines is a key lever to achieving millennium development goal four a two-thirds reduction in child mortality by twenty fifteen
we must make sure that we put these vaccines in the hands of countries that need them most
it is a simple step that will quite simply save millions of children's lives
there is before this house a written declaration on this matter including the pooling of patents
i urge members to sign this and do something that matters
