Current Board Members
Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)

Currently represented on the GAVI Board by

Children’s Vaccine Program at PATH

Board member: Dr Mark Kane, Director
Term of office – July 2000 to June 2002

In December 1998, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a five-year, $100-million program designed to help speed the introduction of new and underutilized vaccines worldwide: the Bill and Melinda Gates Children’s Vaccine Program (Gates CVP). Mr and Mrs Gates chose PATH, the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health, to implement their program. The Gates CVP focuses on vaccines to prevent hepatitis B, Hib disease, pneumococcal disease, rotavirus, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis.

PATH is an independent, non-profit organization based in Seattle, USA. As the Gates CVP, we work closely with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, and other GAVI partners to overcome barriers to vaccine introduction in the developing world. The barriers include: lack of information about disease burden and the cost-effectiveness of vaccines to prevent those diseases, lack of advocacy for new vaccine introduction, and lack of resources – for procurement of vaccine, for strengthening immunization infrastructure, and for developing new or better vaccines and vaccine delivery systems.

The Gates CVP is a partner in GAVI and is an active participant on the GAVI Board, Working Group, and Task Forces. We also have been instrumental in the creation of the Vaccine Fund and will administer the Vaccine Fund until its own offices and staff are in place. For more information about the Gates CVP, visit our website at http://www.ChildrensVaccine.org.