Building on its mission to improve health conditions globally for women and children, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving $750 million to fund child vaccinations in developing countries, Reuters reports.

The money, given out over the next five years, will help launch the new Global Fund for Children's Vaccines, an initiative including UNICEF, the World Bank, the World Health Organization and pharmaceutical companies to bring much-needed vaccines to developing countries.

"There are existing vaccines which if distributed properly could save three to four million children's lives a year," World Bank President James Wolfensohn told Reuters.

The Global Fund will begin buying and distributing vaccines in the next six to eight months, Reuters reports. The vaccinations will be used to prevent tuberculosis, polio, tetanus, hepatitis B and measles, and infections from rotavirus and pneumococcus.

This latest gift is considered the largest in Gates Foundation history, spokesman Trevor Neilson told Reuters. While the foundation has pledged $1 billion over 20 years for minority student scholarships, the lower interest earnings on a five-year gift required a greater initial outlay of funds.

"I think the world will see Bill and Melinda's foundation make many very large gifts. Our giving is aimed at giving access to modern medicine and modern technology to people who lack it," Neilson told Reuters.

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