Commenting on the U.S. pledge of $450 million to the GAVI Alliance, Gayle Smith, special assistant to the President and senior director for Development and Democracy for the National Security Staff, writes in a White House Blog post, “Investments in vaccines are one of the best and most cost-effective life-saving investments for the world’s children, which is why we’ve made tough choices and trade-offs within our current global health portfolio to make this commitment” (6/15).