April 2021, Morogoro: Tanzania marked the African Immunization Week on 26-30 April with a call to spike efforts from national level to family level to ensure all eligible children and adolescents are vaccinated.

Currently, Tanzania has maintained above 95 percent national coverage on routine vaccination additionally the last case of polio was detected in 1996 and therefore this country and Africa region has been declared as polio free. Tanzania is moving steadily towards achieving measles elimination goal while NNT was eliminated in 2012. 

However, there is still low coverage in some locations and below targets achievement on several vaccines. The Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr. Dorothy Gwajima called on players in the health sector to ramp up effort to reach every eligible child when launching the national commemoration of the African Vaccination week April 26-31.

‘Despite good national achievement we have a challenge with coverage in some specific area and in relation to specific vaccines,” said Dr. Gwajima, adding that children that have not completed the required jabs are at risk and their communities at risk as a result.

‘It is critical to make sure that every child get their vaccines on time to properly attain the needed immunity and prevent outbreaks, especially considering that we have had polio outbreaks in neighbouring countries and Measles and Rubella in country,” said  Dr. Gwajima.

She specified that in 2020, for instance 13 districts missed the 90 percent target on Penta 3 vaccine and 96 districts were below target on Measles and 174 out of 184 district of Tanzania had not reached 80 percent for a second dose of HPV vaccine.

Dr. William Mwengee, who spoke on behalf of United Nations organisations said, the entire UN community stands and committed, together with all our immunization partners, to support Tanzania by committing human and financial resources necessary to achieve the high immunization coverage and timely surveillance needed to inform the success in eradication, eliminating and control of vaccine preventable disease.”

Under the theme ‘Vaccine bring us together, go get vaccinated,’ the week involved public awareness activities nationally and at community levels to promote vaccine as key public health intervention to fight disease. With financial support from Gavi—the Global Vaccine Alliance and technical support from WHO and UNICEF, the Tanzania vaccination program facilitates a nationwide vaccination program that provides vaccines against 13 vaccine preventable diseases.