International Finance Facility - International Finance Facility For Immunisation

International Finance Facility For Immunisation

The first IFF is the "International Finance Facility for Immunisation" (IFFIm), begun by France, the UK and other European countries in 2006. IFFIm was initiated to rapidly accelerate the availability and predictability of funds for immunisation. IFFIm sells bonds on the capital markets to raise funds for the GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership which works to save children’s lives and protect people’s health by increasing access to vaccination in developing countries. IFFIm is, as of July 2012, backed by the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Australia and South Africa. Brazil has pledged to become IFFIm's tenth donor.

To date, IFFIm has leveraged US$6.3 billion in donor pledges to raise US$3.7 billion on the world’s capital markets from both retail and institutional investors. The World Bank is IFFIm's treasury manager. Since IFFIm began in 2006, IFFIm funding has allowed GAVI to nearly double its expenditures in health programmes. US$2 billion in IFFIm funding already has been disbursed to support vaccine purchase and delivery for 70 developing countries.

Health care consulting firm HLSP issued an independent evaluation of IFFIm in July 2011 that strongly commended its financial model and health care results. The report noted that not only do IFFIm-funded investments generate “extremely good returns,” but also that it likely helped GAVI save more than 2.1 million lives. The report focused on IFFIm’s cost-effectiveness, particularly the benefits of frontloading and its impact on creating large-scale immunity.

IFFIm provides certainty of funding for both GAVI and recipient countries, aiding long-term planning and short-term needs. For example, US$545 million in proceeds from IFFIm funded tactical purchases that helped prevent 1.4 million deaths from yellow fever, polio and measles. Dedicated IFFIm funding also played a significant role in combating 600,000 cases of meningitis and maternal and neonatal tetanus.

In addition, IFFIm helped GAVI fund breakthrough vaccines quickly and securely. IFFIm financed more than 90% of the guaranteed payment to UNICEF for initial doses of a pentavalent vaccine which immunises against five infectious diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) and hepatitis B. GAVI could not have made that commitment and upfront cash payment without IFFIm.