With the theme The Big Catch Up, South Sudan joined the rest of the countries in Africa Region to celebrate the 2023 African Vaccination Week (AVW) from 24 to 30 April 2023.

This initiative is led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and implemented by countries in the region to promote the use of vaccines and highlight the collective action needed to protect people of all ages against vaccine preventable diseases.

AVW provides an opportunity for health workers and communities to be educated on the importance of providing vaccinations to individuals who have missed one or more doses within the national immunization schedule, determining eligibility, and properly recording and reporting delayed doses. This event encourages leveraging every health contact as an opportunity to check vaccination history and catch up on vaccinations as needed.

This year, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of South Sudan with support from WHO and other partners launched a one-week event at Al Sabah Children’s Hospital. A range of activities was organized, including high-level immunization campaigns and public education and information-sharing events. The nationwide measles campaign was also launched to improve hard immunity and attain the AFRO’s goal of measles elimination.

This partnership between the Ministry of Health, WHO, and other partners, with the slogan ‘Vaccinated Populations – Healthy Populations’ helps the country sustain political commitments and lay a solid foundation to deliver high-impact interventions, raise awareness, and create demand for child health services.

“Immunization saves millions of lives and is widely recognized as one of the world most successful and cost-effective health interventions”, said Dr Fabian Ndenzako, WHO Representative a.i. in South Sudan. The AVW will raise awareness on the life-saving value of immunization, seeks to increase vaccination coverage, reach underserved and marginalized communities particularly those living in remote areas and save the lives of millions of children.

In addition to high-level immunization campaigns, other activities planned during the AVW include talk shows, focus group discussions, and launching the Reaching Every Community/Reaching Every District guideline. Let us all join hands to protect ourselves and our communities against vaccine preventable diseases by getting vaccinated!

Technical contact:
Dr Sylvester Maleghemi, Email: maleghemis [at] who.int (maleghemis[at]who[dot]int)