Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) strongly endorsed programs that will make vaccines available to needy countries, as he met on February 9 with finance ministers from Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Russia.
The government ministers– accompanied by Queen Rania of Jordan and Paul Wolfowitz of the World Bank– were in Rome to introduce the “Advance Market Commitment” initiative, which will underwrite the distribution of vaccines in underdeveloped countries.
Addressing the group in English, Pope Benedict said that the program should “help resolve one of the most pressing challenges in preventative healthcare, one which particularly affects nations already suffering from poverty and serious needs." Vaccines are “urgently needed” to prevent millions of deaths, he said.
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