Bill Gates, Donors Pledge $4.3 Billion for Vaccines

International donors led by Britain and Bill Gates pledged $4.3 billion on Monday to buy vaccines to protect children in poor countries against potential killers such as diarrheal diseases and pneumonia.

The funding should allow more than 250 million of the world's poorest children to be vaccinated by 2015, helping to prevent more than four million premature deaths, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) said.

"Today is an important moment in our collective commitment to protecting children in developing countries from disease," said Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who attended the pledging conference in London. "But every 20 seconds, a child still dies of a vaccine-preventable disease. There's more work to be done."

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has defended increased spending on aid at a time of sharp domestic spending cuts, pledged $1.3 billion — almost a third of the total raised, which was more than the $3.7 billion GAVI had hoped for.

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