Gates Foundation hopes art can encourage vaccination

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched a campaign Wednesday to encourage vaccination.

The Art of Saving a Life marks the first time the foundation has commissioned artwork to support a cause, The New York Times reports. Some of the artists involved in the campaign include photographer Annie Leibovitz and filmmaker Luc Jacquet, who directed March of the Penguins.

The Gates Foundation hopes the campaign will help raise funds for global vaccination, particularly in poor countries. The artwork hits close to home: One of Leibovitz's photos, for example, is a black-and-white snapshot of people developing a vaccine. Another image from Mali photographer Fatoumata Diabete shows a trial phase of an Ebola vaccine.

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The campaign comes ahead of the Jan. 27 meeting of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, where some of the images will be displayed. The Berlin-based, public-private partnership hopes to raise $7.5 billion for its next development phase.