Efforts to Reach More Children with Effective Vaccines Through Routine Immunization in The WHO African Region: 2013-2015

BACKGROUND: Some progress has been made in expanding immunization in the African Region over the last four decades. However, an estimated 22% of the eligible children in the African Region, located in four countries of the African Region (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa), continue to miss vaccination services for various reasons. This paper documents the status of routine immunization in the African Region. METHODS: Programme records, reports and statistics were reviewed for this paper. RESULTS: Challenges remain in reaching an estimated 20–30% of children across the Region. In addition to the traditional vaccines (DTP, measles, polio and tuberculosis) newer ones, such as for Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and rotavirus, are being rolled out in the Region but uptake and coverage are slow and patchy both within and between countries. CONCLUSION: The new regional strategic plan for immunization 2014–2020 is intended to provide policy and programmatic guidance to Member States, in line with the 2011–2020 Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), in order to optimize immunization services and assist countries to further strengthen their immunization programmes.