Africa has an incredible opportunity to provide a better life for each and every child – and we know exactly how to seize it: provide universal acces0s to immunization across the continent to protect them from vaccine preventable diseases. We have seen the transformative impact of efforts to reach more children with life-saving vaccines. Child deaths in Africa fell by half over the past generation, in large part due to the use of high impact interventions such as immunization.
To galvanize action, WHO's offices for Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, in conjunction with the African Union and other partners, are hosting the first-ever Ministerial Conference on Immunization in Africa, in Addis Ababa from 24–25 February 2016.
The economic benefits of vaccination are clear, yet less than 20 countries in Africa currently fund more than 50% of their own immunization expenditure. The generosity of outside donors, particularly over the past decade, has enabled African countries to strengthen immunization programs and introduce new vaccines. While donor support will remain important as African countries continue to grow economically, our shared goal should be for all governments to fully finance their national immunization programs.
Significantly, the ministers will be joined in Addis Ababa by civil society and religious leaders, because reaching children with vaccines requires more than government funding. Reaching more children also requires that parents understand the value of immunizations and make receiving vaccines a priority for their children. The entire community should be engaged in planning for immunization activities, so that when health workers arrive to provide vaccines, families show up.
The communities we need to engage the most are the ones that have traditionally been underserved, and where health systems are the weakest. Children whose parents have little or no education or income are among the least likely to receive the vaccines they need. In poor and remote areas, health systems to deliver vaccines and other basic health services are weak or non-existent.
Efforts to stop polio improved the infrastructure and knowledge to reach children with vaccines for all diseases. Countries that beat back polio have better equipment to keep vaccines cold, and have more trained health workers and systems in place to monitor disease spread. If countries invest in sustaining this infrastructure, they will keep polio out and advance other health priorities.
Dr Ala Alwan is the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. Before assuming this role, Dr Alwan was the Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health at WHO Headquarters, and Assistant Director-General for Health Action in Crises. Dr Alwan was also Minister of Education and Minister of Health in the Government of Iraq.