A plan to provide an extra $4 billion (€3.2 billion) of life-saving vaccines to millions of children in poor countries is set to get the go-ahead in London later today.
British Chancellor Gordon Brown and his counterparts from France, Italy, Spain and Sweden will unveil the International Finance Facility for Immunisation before going on to Manchester for a meeting of European Union finance ministers.
The innovative funding mechanism uses long-term financial commitments from the donor countries and the Gates Foundation, set up by the Microsoft chairman, to raise money for immunisation services.
Treasury officials said the facility would allow an additional $4 billion of aid to be disbursed between now and 2015, saving some five million children's lives over the next 10 years thereafter.
The British government has pledged 35 per cent of the total resources required to raise the $4 billion, which is equivalent to $130 million a year. France has pledged 25 per cent or $100 million a year and Italy, Spain and Sweden will announce their contributions later.
Bill Gates's foundation is contributing $750 million.
Mr Brown is still trying to win support from the Group of Seven rich countries and the EU for a wider finance facility that he says could double aid to the poorest countries to $100 billion a year.
But so far the plan has run into opposition, particularly from the United States.