Pope buys into $1bn bond for children’s vaccines

POPE Benedict joined other religious leaders, rock stars and financial institutions yesterday to buy into a $1 billion bond issue that will fund life-saving vaccines for children in poor countries.

Investors bid for almost twice the amount of securities on offer as British Chancellor Gordon Brown launched the project to fight preventable diseases like polio and measles.

The offering, the first of its kind, was the start of a 10-year initiative known as the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm).