AMP Receives $1.4 Million Grant From the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Improve Advocacy for VACCINES and Immunization Systems in West Africa

PARIS, December 8 - The Agence de Médecine Préventive (AMP) has received a
three-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to implement a
program to support immunization advocacy in West Africa.

The program, called ADVocacy for IMmunization (ADVIM), is a
collaborative effort involving the World Health Organization (WHO), the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and local finance, health, and
planning ministries. ADVIM's advocacy platform will be developed by AMP and
members of the EPIVAC international network, a group of 400 health
professionals involved in immunization in 11 sub-Saharan African countries.
The participating countries will be selected among those meeting the
requirements for GAVI Alliance funding.

In West Africa, a lack of financial resources and public
health infrastructure hinder the development of successful immunization
programs. While most African governments committed to allocate 15% of their
national budgets to health as part of the Abuja Declaration of April 2001,
few of them have met this target. ADVIM recognizes that this goal may be
unattainable in the near future and will thus focus on small improvements in
immunization funding. In particular, the program will support local
governments to develop strategies to overcome financial challenges and make
resources go further.

"While budget support is essential for successful and
sustainable immunization programs, additional components such as advocacy,
communication, and social mobilization are just as important, especially at
district level," said AMP chairman Philippe Stoeckel.

ADVIM will draw on relationships with district-level health
officers and members of the EPIVAC training network to identify and leverage
local resources to improve immunization systems.

"Only through strong local financial and political commitment
will African countries benefit from the new vaccines becoming available,"
said ADVIM principal investigator Dorothy Leab. "Resource mobilization will
be identified on the basis of policy decisions and the local situation. This
will ensure that scarce funds are being used effectively."

ADVIM will have several components, including development of
an evidence and capacity-building platform to support advocacy for
immunization; assistance to countries to identify and overcome barriers to
resource allocation; and establishment of mechanisms to sustain ongoing
immunization funding advocacy efforts.

About AMP - Founded in 1972, AMP is a nonprofit organization
with headquarters at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and offices in Benin,
Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, and Senegal. AMP's mission is to promote
preventive medicine and public health by developing expertise and applied
research in vaccinology; offering training in epidemiology and health program
management; organizing scientific and technical meetings; and disseminating
information on vaccinology and other health-related fields. For more
information, please visit: www.aamp.org

About the EPIVAC international network (EPINET or RIE) -
EPINET was created in 2007 as a component of the EPIVAC (for EPIdemiogoly and
VACcinology) in-service and academic training program, which has been
implemented since 2002 in sub-Saharan African GAVI-eligible countries.
EPINET's main missions include: (1) providing evidence for immunization
decision making through research activities, (2) mobilizing resources for
immunization, and (3) sharing experiences and tools for improving
immunization service delivery. For more information, please visit:
www.epivac.org

About the GAVI Alliance - Launched in 2000, the GAVI Alliance
is a public-private global health partnership that includes governments in
industrialized and developing countries, international organizations (UNICEF,
WHO, and the World Bank), vaccine manufacturers, research and technical
agencies, non-governmental organizations, and foundations (notably the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation). The Alliance's mission is to save children's lives
and protect people's health by increasing access to immunization in poor
countries. For more information, please visit: www.gavialliance.org

For more information, please contact Agence de Medecine
Preventive: amp@aamp.org

Contacts Media only: Philippe J. Stoeckel, President, AMP, Tel : +33(0)1-5386-8920, pstoeckel at aamp.org