Dakar, Republic of Senegal
28 November 2014
Thank you everyone.
Thank you.
I’d like to begin by acknowledging all our distinguished guests from Senegal, Canada and other countries as well, with a special welcome for my parliamentary colleagues and all the members of the Canadian delegation.
It’s quite an honour for me to take part in this meeting in the company of Prime Minister Dionne.
I had the pleasure of visiting Senegal two years ago during the run-up to the Francophone Summit in Kinshasa.
Just recently I renewed acquaintances with President Sall at the G-20 Summit in Australia.
So I think that our two countries have never been so close despite the distance separating us.
I also want to acknowledge Dr. Seth Berkley and thank him for his exemplary commitment to the noble cause which brings us together today.
I also want to recognize the work of the non-governmental organizations that are part of the Canadian delegation to Senegal and through them all the people back home and around the world who are dedicating themselves to improving the health of women and children in dire circumstances.
Congratulations to everyone on a job well done.
What has brought us together here today is a cause that deserves a renewed commitment on our part, in my view.
Improving the health of mothers, newborns and children in those countries where the risk is greatest.
This cause is Canada’s number one development priority.
When Canada chaired the G-8 in 2010, we launched the Muskoka Initiative to mobilize international efforts to reduce maternal mortality and improve the health of mothers and children in the world’s poorest countries.
This initiative comprises three main pillars.
First, strengthening the health services aimed at mothers, newborns and children at the local level.
Second, reducing the main illnesses affecting mothers and children with the help of drugs and vaccines.
And third, improving nutrition.
We reaffirmed our commitment to maternal, newborn and child health in May 2014 at the Saving Every Woman, Every Child Summit in Toronto.
The Forward Strategy released then outlined the importance of scaling up our efforts, particularly in immunization.
Canada has earmarked a considerable amount of funding for these objectives.
Over two-thirds of our commitments have already been spent, and in 2015 we will have disbursed the entire amount.
Our commitment will continue, but it is clear that neither Canada nor any other country acting on its own will ever be able to reach the goal.
That is why we have made such an effort to marshal global resources around this issue.
And that is also why we are acting in concert with a number of partners from the private and non-governmental sectors.
One such partner is GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, which provides the poorest countries with new vaccines that are under-utilized against lethal diseases predominantly affecting young children.
In cooperation with the GAVI Alliance, Canada helped fully immunize 145 million children in 2013.
And by ensuring that children are protected from preventable disease, we are making a vital difference in the long-term health of children around the world.
Since its launch in 2000, GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, has prevented more than five million deaths and it has helped protect almost 300 million children with new and under-utilized vaccines.
I'm confident that the Vaccine Alliance will meet its goals of delivering vaccines to another quarter of a billion children thereby preventing four million unnecessary deaths by 2015.
But the Alliance is now at the stage where it needs to replenish its financial resources for the 2016-2020 period.
A full replenishment will mean that the resources are available to vaccinate an additional 300 million children and save five to six million more lives.
I am announcing today that for the replenishment of the Vaccine Alliance’s resources for the period 2016 to 2020, Canada will make a considerable financial contribution.
I want to encourage other countries, and especially our G-7 friends, to follow suit and I’m also confirming our participation in the vaccination campaign against rotavirus and pneumonia, which the government of Senegal, the government of President Sall has launched.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, as I said at the United Nations General Assembly in September, we have not reached our goal yet.
One in five children living in poor countries still do not have access to the most basic vaccines.
As a result one and a half million children under the age of five die annually of vaccine preventable diseases.
That is especially tragic when you consider the childhood immunization is one of the most cost-effective solutions to ensure child survival.
The global reduction of child deaths that we have seen from nearly 12 million to six and a half million between 1990 and 2012 is due in large part to the scale-up of essential vaccines.
For example, the spread of measles, the top killer of children under the age of five worldwide, dropped by almost three quarters between 2000 and 2007 due to increased vaccination.
Childhood immunization is one of the most effective ways of improving global health.
It is the reason there is light at the end of the tunnel.
And today we are casting a bit more light down that terrible tunnel of childhood disease.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
