This year marked my first as Director of Vaccine Delivery at the Gates Foundation, where pneumonia has a dedicated team working to develop and deliver a comprehensive set of tools including improved diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines for children and families in developing countries.

I had the privilege of meeting people working on the frontlines of the fight against pneumonia last week during a trip to Myanmar. The Princess Inaara Foundation and PSI are working together to bring pneumonia information and care to children and families, particularly in rural areas of the developing world.

While great strides in child survival have been made in the past years, we also remember those children who do not live to see their fifth birthday -- the 7.6 million children who die of preventable causes each year.

For the first time in history, these new vaccines are also reaching people in the developing world soon after they're available in wealthier countries, eliminating what used to be a delay of 15 years or more.

Nigeria is home to one out of every eight child deaths worldwide, and the Decade of Vaccines Economics projects 90 percent vaccine coverage can save 600,000 lives and $17 billion in Nigeria over the next 10 years.

Decisions around vaccine container size and type -- whether single-dose vial, multi-dose container or pre-filled syringe -- have important implications for a variety of stakeholders.

Likewise, as one of only three remaining countries in the world with endemic polio transmission, they have recently ramped up efforts to eradicate polio from the country, and thereby, help rid it from the entire world.

A report released this week from Johns Hopkins University examines progress on several interventions in the 15 countries with the most child pneumonia deaths.

The power of vaccines is evident around the world, but nowhere will it be more so than in the over 30 developing countries that will begin -- for the first time -- to immunize their children with new rotavirus and pneumococcal vaccines.

For someone who has worked diligently for over a decade to accelerate access to new life-saving pneumonia vaccines, announcements like this week's make it all seem worth it.

LONDON -- A global health group says it will donate just over $1 billion to immunize children in 37 countries from life-threatening diseases. The Glo...