2006-11-07 15:09:11

Pope Benedict XVI to be first buyer of bond supporting children's immunizations


(Tuesday,07 Nov. 2006): Pope Benedict XVI is to be the official first buyer of a multi-government bond tat will support a campaign to immunize 500 million children in the world's poorest countries. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said that Cardinal Renato Martino, council president, would be in London Tuesday,Nov.7, to pick up the bond on behalf of the pontiff. The bonds will be issued by the International Finance Facility for Immunization. It is an international development funding agency supported by the governments of Great Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain, South Africa and Brazil. The project hopes to raise $4 billion over the next 10 years to fund a massive vaccination campaign. The eight sponsoring countries have pledged enough money over the next 20 years to redeem the bonds with interest. The Vatican announcement did not say how much money the pope would pay for his bond. The bond purchased by Pope Benedict and others sold by the finance facility will fund the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.

Jean Pierre Le Calvez, a spokesman for the alliance said that Pope Benedict's decision to buy the first bond had "great symbolic value." Even with just $1,000, he said, you can immunize 30 children. In the world's poorest countries, the alliance focuses on first immunizing children against polio, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and measles. The alliance has estimated that its current funding levels, without the money from the bonds, will help prevent the deaths of 1.5 million children between 2006 and 2015. And the bond funding will help prevent an additional 5 million child deaths from diseases that can be prevented by immunization.








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