Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will provide Nepal with vaccines and grants worth about Rs 8.59 billion to support routine immunisation through 2030, Health Minister Nisha Mehta announced on Tuesday.
Gavi has also cancelled a repayment of US$308,271 that an audit had demanded from Nepal.
Mehta said the government secured the assistance through diplomatic initiatives. The exact figure announced was Rs 8,591,968,000. The funds will support the national routine immunisation programme run by the Family Welfare Division.
The repayment demand arose from an audit of Gavi funds Nepal received between fiscal years 2016-17 and 2021-22. The audit found procedural errors during that period and asked Nepal to return the money. Gavi has now waived the amount. The minister’s secretariat described the outcome as a significant accomplishment, and it as an important win at a time when global aid is shrinking.
Where the figure comes from
The figure appears to match a package Gavi proposed on 7 August 2026 at a meeting in Kathmandu between Mehta and Nilgun Aydogan, Gavi’s senior manager for Nepal.
Gavi’s offer for 2027-2030 comprised $39.6 million in vaccines and an $18.06 million cash grant, totalling $57.66 million. At about Rs 149 per dollar, that equals roughly Rs 8.59 billion.
The sum is Gavi’s contribution only. Nepal must separately co-finance $17.1 million over the four years, about Rs 2.5 billion.
A long partnership
Nepal’s partnership with Gavi began in 2001. Over 25 years, Gavi has supported vaccines, cold-chain storage and health-system strengthening in Nepal worth more than $550 million.
Gavi currently co-finances five of the 11 vaccines in Nepal’s National Immunization Program and provides one vaccine free. In late 2025, Gavi-backed vaccines included those against HPV, measles-rubella, injectable polio, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid conjugate, rotavirus, pneumococcal disease and oral cholera, along with outbreak response and campaigns. Officials say Gavi accounts for more than 50 percent of Nepal’s immunisation programme support.
Why it matters now
Gavi itself is under financial strain. It raised over $9 billion for 2026-2030, about $2.5 billion short of its $11.9 billion target for its “Gavi 6.0” strategy. The shortfall is attributed largely to the Trump administration’s confirmation that it is ending US funding for Gavi, and to reduced pledges from the UK and Norway.
In November 2025, Nepali officials were informally told that Gavi’s non-vaccine support, covering logistics, training and cold-chain help, could be cut by up to 70 percent. Gavi promised that vaccine doses would continue. The latest announcement makes support through 2030 more certain.
Nepal’s vaccine acceptance is among the highest in South Asia, and the country eliminated rubella by 2025, a year ahead of target.
What to watch
Nepal must pay its co-financing on time. Gavi-supported vaccines are procured through the UNICEF Supply Division, and the country pays its share to UNICEF each year. Falling behind can put support at risk.
At the World Health Assembly earlier this year, Mehta stressed that Nepal should gradually raise its own spending on vaccines and eventually become self-sufficient, describing the current phase as a “transition period”. As Nepal’s economy grows, its co-financing share will rise while Gavi’s falls.
Gavi’s current typhoid vaccine grant runs from 2022 to 2027, so decisions on what follows are expected.
