Press Releases
Courtesy Call on State Foreign Minister SUZUKI Takako by Dr. Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
March 28, 2022
On March 28, 2022, commencing at 10:10 am. for approximately 40 minutes, Ms. SUZUKI Takako, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, received a courtesy call from Dr. Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The overview is as follows.
- At the outset, State Minister Suzuki expressed her respect for the role that Gavi has played under the leadership of Dr. Berkley in the global effort to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, and stated that Japan will continue to strengthen cooperation with Gavi. In response, Dr. Berkley appreciated Japan’s contributions such as co-hosting the COVAX AMC Summit with Gavi in June 2021, financial support to the COVAX facility and dose donations to ensure equitable access to vaccines. She also expressed her wish to continue to work closely with Japan in vaccine-related efforts. Dr. Berkley expressed his expectation for Japan's support at the "2022 Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (Gavi COVAX AMC) Summit: Break COVID Now" scheduled on April 8.
- State Minister Suzuki introduced that, in 2023, Japan will be chairing the G7 Summit and a high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is to be held at the UN General Assembly. State Minister Suzuki and Dr. Berkley confirmed to work closely together to achieve UHC.