ROME: Gordon Brown was today meeting the Pope and the Italian prime minister.
The Chancellor's audience with Pope Benedict XVI came during the launch of a scheme aimed at providing life-saving vaccines to millions of children in the developing world.
And Mr Brown's talks with Italian prime minister Romano Prodi were being seen as a further indication of his status as "Prime Minister-in-waiting" before Tony Blair's expected departure.
Britain has joined forces with Italy, Canada and Norway to create a £750m fund to encourage drug firms to develop vaccines for pneumococcal disease, which kills 1.6 million people - including one million children under five - each year.
The campaign launch in Rome was also being attended by Queen Rania of Jordan, and ministers from Italy, Canada, Norway and Ghana.
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