Pope Joins List of Investors in Immunization Fund

Pope Benedict XVI is among several world figures who will invest in bonds being sold to raise money quickly for an international effort to increase immunizations in some of the world’s poorest countries, reports Forbes magazine.

The International Finance Facility for Immunization, established by the British Treasury, is working to use the bond market to raise $50-billion annually for aid. Treasury chief Gordon Brown, who is expected to succeed British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is heading up the project. England has pledged $1.4-billion over the next decade.

Governments will invest in the bonds and donate the proceeds from their sale to the GAVI Alliance, a charity supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that provides hepatitis and yellow-fever vaccinations, Forbes reports.