Aid cuts will stall global vaccination programmes – a call to action

The UK has abandoned 200,000 children who will now die from infectious diseases – can we let this happen?

Earlier this year, the UK government announced cuts to its aid budget to bring it to its lowest level in 25 years.¹

Anneliese Dodds, the then International Development Minister, resigned. In her resignation letter,² released on X, she confirmed that ’Even if the UK keeps its contribution steady rather than the hoped-for 10% increase, this would lead to the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) vaccinating 8 million fewer children and therefore 200,000 more child deaths’.

Why does this matter to us?

Which group of health professionals in the UK are as immersed in immunisation day by day, and who explain the importance and effectiveness of childhood vaccines to family after family? Many infections of childhood are no more daily realities – how many of us have seen a measles rash or the swollen glands of mumps – and so parents have become more ambivalent about getting their children vaccinated. But we have a resource that can readily remind us of the impact of these once endemic diseases.

Hands up who is on first name terms with The Green Book³ – back in 2021, chapter 14a in particular (yes, you are right, COVID), and more recently, in 2024, chapter 27a the RSV vaccine?

The Green Book not only provides up-to-date guidance on immunisation in the UK but it also summarises the history of the infectious diseases for which there are now vaccines. On page 314 of Chapter 26 there is a graph illustrating the yearly incidence of polio in the UK and the impact of vaccines in the 1950s and 1960s.⁴ Before then polio was endemic, many children died, and many more were permanently disabled. So we, as general practice nurses, understand the ramifications of vaccination and why it matters so much.

Why do we need to speak up now?

Wild polio is eradicated in the UK; there were hopes that it would be eradicated worldwide.

Global initiatives used pooled resources and effective cold chains to get polio vaccines to areas of conflict, refugee camps and isolated communities. And the UK was one of the lead donors and collaborators through GAVI, the organisation that brings together private and public sectors to distribute vaccines fairly and sustainably.⁵ Bob Kitchen, of the International Rescue Committee states: ‘The Reaching Every Child in Humanitarian Settings (REACH) initiative alone increased immunisation access in these regions [northern and central Africa] from 16% to 96% in just two years, vaccinating nine million children by February 2025.’⁶

But polio is increasing in Pakistan, and the Taliban has suspended most of the polio vaccine programme in Afganistan.⁷ Polio spreads through the oro-faecal route, and could spread rapidly in refugee camps and areas with poor water supplies. Measles – one of the most highly infectious viral illnesses – is on the rise again in 57 different countries, spreading through unvaccinated communities. Fatality is highest in children under 1 year, and complications are more common in poorly nourished children.

And it is now that our government decides to pull the plug on one of the most cost-effective health initiatives worldwide and put millions more children at risk. Not only is it shatteringly unethical but also this policy makes no strategic or economic sense. Ensuring communities are vaccinated dramatically reduces the possibility of regional or global outbreaks,⁶ and recent experience of COVID should highlight the importance of worldwide health security. In addition vaccinated communities have greater resilience, improved productivity and more sustainable structures.⁶

So who is going to tell our Government – firmly and with the authority of experience – that cutting international aid now and reducing our contribution to global vaccination is wrong, dangerous and short-sighted? The decision will affect the budget of 2027 so there is time to change it, save lives and strike a blow for common sense and humanity.

Write to your MP (see https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/ ) and explain why it matters so much, using your nursing experience. Letters do make a difference. Contact Practice Nurse at editorial@practicenurse.co.uk with ideas for what we could do, because ultimately our Government has made a decision that will cause the death of more than 200,000 children – just because there will be no vaccines for them.

References

1. UK Parliament. UK to reduce aid to 0.3% of gross national income from

2027. House of Commons Library; 28 Feb 2025. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/uk-to-reduce-aid-to-0-3-of-gross-national-income-from-2027/

2. Dodds A. It is with sadness I have to tender my resignation… https://x.com/AnnelieseDodds/status/1895447590789075008

3. UK Health Security Agency. Immunisation against infectious disease. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immunisation-against-infectious-disease-the-green-book

4. UK Health Security Agency. The Green Book, Chapter 26: Polio. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/polio-the-green-book-chapter-26

5. Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation. New 2021-2025 high level strategy to leave no-one behind with immunisation approved by Gavi Board. Press release; June 2019. https://www.gavi.org/news/media-room/new-2021-2025-high-level-strategy-leave-no-one-behind-immunisation-approved-gavi

6. Kitchen R. UK aid cuts will undermine global health and pose a risk to children’s lives. BMJ 2025;388:r541 http://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r541

7. Forman H. Why polio is making a comeback. Yale Insights. 25 Sep 2024. https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/why-polio-is-making-comeback