Over half a million children under five years die yearly from vaccine-preventable diseases, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This disclosure was made at the 71st World Health Assembly, during the launching of the Business Case for WHO Immunisation Activities on the African Continent 2018-2030, which outlines how WHO will support African Member States to achieve universal immunisation coverage.
A statement by WHO, Regional Office for Africa, noted that “while Africa has made tremendous progress in improving access to immunisation, most countries are off track to achieve the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) target of 90% national immunisation coverage by 2020. Every year, more than 30 million children under-five fall sick due to vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), and of these, over half a million die, representing 58% of global deaths.”
The statement notes also that VPDs impose an economic burden of $13 billion every year – funding that could be used to fuel the economy and drive development.
Data from the Business Case highlights that curbing four major vaccine-preventable diseases – measles, rubella, rotavirus and pneumococcal diseases – could save more than 1.9 million lives in Africa, avert 167 million VPD cases and generate $58 billion in economic benefits by 2030.
The return on this investment has been estimated to be $37 for every dollar invested, with returns going up to $93 for measles elimination.
“We know the benefits of immunisation are far reaching. When children survive and stay healthy, entire families, communities and countries thrive. In short, immunisation is a cornerstone of sustainable development,” the statement quoted Samba Ousmane Sow, Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Mali, as saying.
Models from the WHO Business Case indicate that if current vaccination efforts are not maintained, reversed progress could lead to more than 2.4 million deaths in Africa and a negative impact of $59 billion over the next decade.
Read also: Regular crab consumers likely to live long –Nutritionist
To scale up progress against VPDs, the Business Case adopts a comprehensive approach to immunisation, shifting focus from a disease-specific to an integrated, multi-sectoral life-course approach from infancy through to old age.
In addition, the Business Case recognises and addresses one of the toughest challenges to meeting immunisation targets in Africa – a changing funding landscape.
As Africa nears polio eradication, critical funding for immunisation through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is expected to ramp down and end.
Additionally, as more countries in Africa approach middle-income status, they will transit away from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance funding.
As of 2018, Angola and Congo have transitioned from Gavi support and several other African countries will enter an accelerated transition process, after which they will be expected to finance 100% of the cost of their vaccines and other immunisation costs.
“The World Health Organisation has played a critical role to ensure steadfast support of countries’ immunisation programmes for 70 years. We are committed to continue to strengthen our support for years to come,” said Dr. Jaouad Mahjour, Acting WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
“We know that business as usual will no longer work, which is why we have developed this business case to better understand how we can support member states in strengthening national immunisation programmes.”
To implement the Business Case, the WHO Regional Offices for the African and Eastern Mediterranean Regions have differentiated all African countries into four categories based on an immunisation maturity grid.
Going forward, WHO will provide targeted support to each group of countries to optimise resource management and increase impact.
The four categories, which range from 1 (low maturity) to 4 (high maturity), were selected based on various immunisation components such as vaccine financing, immunisation service delivery and data analytics, among others.
21 African countries have been classified as having weak immunisation systems (categories 1 and 2).
Over time, WHO will decrease efforts and focus in countries as they move up the maturity scale, to ensure country ownership and sustainability.
“The WHO Business Case is strongly anchored in a broader vision to improve accountability and transparency within WHO, in line with the broader WHO Transformation Agenda,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
“We are committed to continue evolving to ensure that everyone in Africa, no matter who they are or where they live, can have access to life-saving vaccines, because universal access to immunisation is not only a moral imperative – it also makes economic sense.”
By 2030, WHO aims to bring all African countries to a satisfactory level of immunisation maturity.
