In a glittering ceremony in Abu Dhabi, on 10th December, 2018, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, Founder of Serum Institute of India (SII) and Chairman of Poonawalla Group, was felicitated with the first ever ‘Vaccine Hero’ award by the Vaccine Alliance – Gavi, in recognition of his lifelong commitment and contributions to furthering vaccine coverage in some of the world’s most backward countries.

The ‘Vaccine Hero’ award has been instated to celebrate global figures whose dedication to the Vaccine Alliance’s mission has played a key role in helping Gavi and its partners to protect hundreds of millions of children across the world.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla said, “I am truly humbled to receive this recognition for the humanitarian work that we have been doing at Serum Institute for the last five decades. It is recognition such as today’s that gives me and my team the strength to commit and continue the humanitarian work by making available immunobiologicals and vaccines at the most affordable prices to support the great efforts made by Gavi and other UN Agencies worldwide, especially now for much needed newer vaccines, such as Pneumonia, Rotavirus, Meningitis, HPV and Dengue.”

“Since Gavi’s inception Cyrus has been a steadfast supporter of Gavi’s mission. Under his leadership, Serum has become the largest supplier of vaccines to the developing world, protecting hundreds of millions of children in the world’s poorest countries against killer diseases like measles, diphtheria and meningitis. He is a worthy winner of this inaugural Vaccine Hero award,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla founded Serum Institute of India (SII) in 1966 and built it into the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, supplying more than one billion doses of vaccines per year to children in 170 countries around the world at affordable prices. SII supplies 40% of the vaccines funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership committed to saving children’s lives and protecting people’s health by increasing equitable use of vaccines in lower-income countries. By the end of 2018, Gavi will have contributed to the immunization of 700 million people and the prevention of more than 10 million future
deaths.