WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Japanese investors may get a chance this year to participate in an innovative project to help fund child immunization programs in the world's poorest countries, where 2.1 million people die annually of preventable diseases.
The World Health Organization says that 28 million infants born every year are not vaccinated.
Marking the first time that bonds have been issued to specifically finance immunization and health programs, the International Finance Facility for Immunization (IFFIm) aims to raise funds to immunize 500 million children against such diseases as polio, measles and tetanus in 70 countries from sub-Saharan Africa to South Asia by 2015, potentially saving 10 million lives.