A global initiative that seeks to save millions of children's lives by immunisation is in danger of saddling the world's poorest countries with expensive vaccine regimes they cannot afford and perhaps do not need, a new study has found.

The study, conducted by the UK charity Save the Children and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, criticised the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI) for including managers from pharmaceutical companies on its governing board, saying that this created a potential conflict of interest.

“GAVI needs to ensure that it can …