From 24-30 April 2024, the African continent commences the commemoration of the African Vaccination Week (AVW), which takes place annually in the last week of April.

This year's commemoration also coincides with the celebration of 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) initiative, marking collective efforts to save and improve countless lives from vaccine-preventable diseases. It calls on countries to increase investments in immunization programs to protect future generations. There has been significant progress across the continent with increased vaccination rates and reduced child mortality, enabling every vaccinated child to survive and thrive.

This year's Africa Vaccination Week creates an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of vaccines and promote vaccination across the life course, reducing mortality due to vaccine-preventable diseases. The theme for this year, “Humanly Possible: Saving Lives Through Immunization”, highlights the need to intensify efforts to save lives through immunization. This can be done through routine immunization programmes and catch-up vaccination campaigns in the continent.

To expedite progress and realign the continent with the objectives of Agenda 2063 and the SDG 2030 goals, there is an urgent need for heightened political commitment and multi-stakeholder collaboration to reach underserved communities. In 2016, Ministers of Health and other high-level representatives convened at the Ministerial Conference on Immunization in Africa and crafted the Addis Declaration on Immunization (ADI). Following this milestone, Civil Society Organizations, religious leaders from faith-based organizations, and parliamentarians pledged their support to African Union member states in implementing the ADI.

Subsequently, in 2017, the Heads of States and Government of African Union Member States officially endorsed the ten-Commitments outlined in the Addis Ababa Declaration on Immunization (Assembly/AU/Dec.624 (XXVIII)). This endorsement marked a pivotal step toward expediting the implementation of the ADI commitments.

The endorsed commitments prioritize access to safe and effective vaccines, urging Member States' Ministers of Health to launch robust advocacy campaigns to achieve these objectives. Moreover, they underscored the importance of aligning these efforts with those outlined in the Global Vaccine Action Plan, aiming to enhance overall healthcare delivery systems.

Increased investments in primary health care will bring services closer to communities, making it easier to reach the marginalized. Investing in human resources for health, surveillance and improvements in health information systems is also critical. Multi-stakeholder collaborations to deal with misinformation and build and sustain community demand while addressing gender barriers will increase coverage, prevent diseases, and save lives.

The African Union Commission, Africa CDC, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO applaud efforts by African Member States in promoting access to vaccination at various levels of care and continue to encourage scaling up routine immunization services on the continent. At glance, in less than a generation, the African Region has made tremendous gains in increasing access to immunization and driving down child deaths. Elimination of polio and maternal and neonatal tetanus, respectively, while the introduction of new vaccines will help prevent against age-old diseases such as malaria.

The African Union and the forementioned partners and other stakeholders will continue to support the Member States in raising awareness of the importance of vaccines and immunization and ensure that vaccination programs are adequately financed and resourced in all countries, and promote innovative initiatives that enhance access to vaccines, and save lives.

This year Africa vaccination week aims at raising awareness about the importance of immunization in saving lives and achieving health goals, emphasize the commitment of African Member States to prioritize immunization and ensure adequate resources for vaccination programs , highlight the achievements and challenges in immunization over the past 50 years and the way forward ; promote collaboration and partnerships for advancing immunization efforts across Africa.

For further information please contact: 

Ms. Inas Mubarak Yahia| Head of Health Systems, Diseases and Nutrition Division | African Union Commission | E-mail: AbbasI@africa-union.org    | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Mr. Derrick Ochuot | Strategic Communication Expert | Directorate of Health and Humanitarian Affairs | Health Systems, Disease and Nutrition Division | African Union Commission | E-mail: ochuotd@africa-union.org | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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