Devex: Opinion: Innovative finance doesn’t mean reinventing the wheel
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, senior adviser at Lazard, and chair of the board of the African Union’s African Risk Capacity

“…[G]overnment aid budgets alone cannot get us [to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals] and we know that more funding will need to come from institutional capital and the private sector. Innovative financing models appear to hold the key as to how we do that. But in the hunt for solutions, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. … [I]n the world of childhood immunization, there are existing models with a proven track record of leveraging additional private capital in ways that amplify global health outcomes. … [I]nnovation doesn’t always have to mean coming up with an entirely new solution. Sometimes it can pay to look around at what’s already out there and working. During World Immunization Week — following the Commonwealth leaders meetings to discuss how they can protect their citizens from infectious disease, poverty, illiteracy, and climate change, and how to pay for it — remember that we don’t just need innovation, we also need imitation and adaptation” (4/27).