Campaigner. Fighter. Liberator. Nelson Mandela is remembered for being many things. His contribution to ending apartheid in South Africa is legendary, and the unofficial status he achieved as the world’s elder statesman was due in no small part to his dedication to equality, justice and peace. But did you know that Nelson Mandela also cared about something else, something you probably didn't even realize, and that it will likely improve the lives of more people than all his other achievements? His greatest legacy may not be felt until many years after his death, but he has played a key role in getting this issue to where it is now. Nelson Mandela was a huge supporter and advocate of vaccines.
To this day, hundreds of millions of children do not get vaccinated against preventable diseases, and millions die each year. In the world where such vaccines exist, it is unthinkable that such a situation can prevail. That was the thinking of Nelson Mandela. That is why, in 2001, he became the first Chair of the GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, helping to bring world leaders, donors and developing country partners together to find an international solution to a worldwide problem. Undeterred by the scale of the challenge in front of him, as ever he was, Mandela set out to make a world where no child dies of a preventable disease a reality.
That is what we continue to work for, as campaigners, as fighters and as liberators, following in his footsteps. At Global Citizen, we are currently working with other organisations like ONE, RESULTS and Save the Children to help Gavi get the support of today’s world leaders. As Mandela noted in his 2002 address at the Vaccine Conference - every single child who dies from preventable and curable disease is a child that could have grown into a productive member of society, being able to strengthen communities and contribute to the development of strong and prosperous nations.
This is why we need to use this Mandela Day to remind ministers, governments and independent donors how important it is to secure the additional $7.5 billion needed for the vaccination effort between 2016-2020. With this investment, Gavi can immunize a further 300 million children worldwide, not just saving millions of lives, but ensuring these children's potential to drastically change the world.
Mandela summed up the global community’s responsibility perfectly:
"Giving children a healthy start in life, no matter where they are born or the circumstances of their birth, is the moral obligation of every one of us... We have a global responsibility to give of the utmost of ourselves, materially and morally, in this partnership”.
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Clea Guy-Allen