Publications

At the 2012 World Health Assembly (WHA), all 194 Member States – including those in the African Region – endorsed the Global Vaccine Action Plan1 (GVAP) 2011–2020 and committed to obtaining 90% national immunization coverage by 2020. To achieve this goal, the African Region adopted the ‘Regional Strategic Plan for Immunization 2014–2020(RSPI),2’ which set ambitious targets, including eradicating polio and eliminating measles, rubella and maternal and neonatal tetanus by 2020. The 2016 Addis Ababa Declaration on Immunization3 – a historic pledge endorsed by Heads of State and Government at the 28th African Union Summit – further aimed at increasing political will to achieve these global and regional goals. Subsequently, in February 2016, ministers from 45 Member States attended the Ministerial Conference on Immunization in Africa, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and reaffirmed their commitment to continue to invest in immunization programmes. The emanating 10 ADI commitments and road map called for an urgently needed increase in resources, improvements in research and development and negotiation with manufacturers to improve price transparency, ensure affordability and guarantee uninterrupted supply of vaccines – all to strengthen immunization programmes.