Remarks delivered by Dr Joseph W. Cabore, on behalf of Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa
Good day, ladies and gentlemen of the media, and welcome.
Happy African Vaccination and World Immunization Week to everyone!
I bring you warm greetings from Dr Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, who, unfortunately, is unable to be with us today.
With regards to the press conference this morning, I have the great pleasure of introducing our distinguished guests.
First is His Excellency Dr Austin Demby, Minister of Health, Republic of Sierra Leone. Thank you so much, Your Excellency, for joining our morning media briefing.
Second is Dr Franklin Asiedu–Bekoe, the Director of Public Health, Ghana Health Services. Thank you very much, Dr Asiedu–Bekoe.
Third is Ms Aurelia Nguyen. She is the Chief Programme Strategy Officer at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Thank you for joining the briefing.
And the fourth guest is Professor William Ampofo, Secretary of the Presidential Committee on Vaccine Manufacturing and Development in Ghana. Thank you, Professor.
As you may all be aware, every year, the lifesaving power of vaccines is celebrated during World Immunization Week, which is held during the last week of April.
Over the last two decades, Africa registered tremendous progress in improving access to immunization services.
But, despite this progress, about 30 million children in Africa are estimated to suffer from vaccine-preventable diseases each year.
In February 2023, African Heads of State and Governments, on the sidelines of the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly, declared their strong commitment to increasing investments in African immunization programmes.
The Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Africa Union Commission for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Welfare, and the World Health Organization organized the event.
We are very grateful for the strong political support and commitment of our leaders at a time when immunization programmes in our region are experiencing the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For instance, the number of children who have never received a single dose of vaccine, called zero-dose children, increased from 7.7 million in 2020 to 12 million in 2022.
It is therefore not surprising that in 2023, thirty-one African countries experienced an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases.
We commend the efforts of Governments, civil society, communities, development partners, and indeed all stakeholders to ensure that every eligible individual is reached and receives lifesaving vaccines.
Since 2019, the world’s first malaria vaccine has been available in parts of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi in a pilot introduction.
Nearly four years on, more than 1.4 million children have received the vaccine across the three pilot countries. About 360 000 children have completed the four-dose schedule and are fully vaccinated.
At least 28 countries in Africa have applied for Gavi support to deploy the vaccine. That equally demonstrates the pilot’s success, the growing interest and trust of our Member States in the vaccine, and their eagerness to work with us to protect their populations against malaria.
Ladies and gentlemen of media, you may recall that the wild poliovirus circulation was interrupted in 2020 in our region, and we celebrated that important milestone. Countries have continued immunizing children; last year, we protected 33 million children against polio. Regarding Rotavirus, the vaccination has reduced deaths from rotavirus diarrhoea by 49%, and we are also very happy that all our governments in the African Region have introduced the HPV vaccines.
Ebola vaccines have been crucial in controlling recent Zaire ebolavirus outbreaks, and promising vaccines against other diseases are also in the pipeline.
We have launched the mRNA hub in South Africa to support local manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa and provide training in mRNA technology.
As we commemorate this year’s African Vaccination and World Immunization Week, allow me to echo the vision of the Regional Immunization Agenda for the African Region, “A region where everyone, everywhere and at every age, benefits from vaccines for good health and well-being.”
To achieve this vision, we all must deliver on our commitments to ensure universal access to immunization.
Priority actions in this regard include—
o Strengthening health systems
o Building and sustaining political and community leadership
o Reaching zero dose and under-immunized children
o Enhancing data systems for decision making
o Building resilient immunization programmes, and
o Strengthening capacity for vaccine logistics, regulation, safety monitoring, and local manufacturing.
Thank you.