By Franca Ofili
Africa has began intensifying political leadership, governance and accountability to accelerate implementation of the Continental Immunisation Strategy (CIS) and improve vaccination coverage across member states.
Dr Onome Dibosa-Osadolor, Senior Health Specialist, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said this on Friday during the Africa CDC High Level Continental Webinar on Immunisation Governance and Accountability in Africa.
According to her, the push followed the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF’s 2025 immunisation estimate which showed that Africa remained off-track towards achieving continental and global 2030 vaccination targets.
She said immunisation coverage across the continent remained below pre-pandemic levels, requiring urgent political action, stronger governance and sustainable health-system investments.
“Nigeria, Angola, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo account for more than half of zero-dose children among the world’s ten priority countries.
“West Africa continues to record poorer immunisation performance than other African subregions, a trend that has persisted since 2020,” she said.
Dibosa-Osadolor warned that measles vaccination presents an even greater concern, with several African countries recording substantial numbers of children missing their first dose.
According to her, missed measles vaccination reflects broader health-system challenges involving vaccine hesitancy, public trust, service access and weaknesses in routine immunisation delivery.
“Africa’s commitment to halve zero-dose children by 2030 remains significantly off-track, making accelerated political intervention essential during the remaining implementation period,” she said.
Dibosa-Osadolor identified concentrated zero-dose populations, measles vulnerability and weak sub-national data systems among issues requiring urgent collective political action.
According to her, since no African country has completely eliminated zero-dose children, every government must identify and reach underserved communities.
The specialist urged political leaders to treat zero-dose children as a governance issue rather than merely another immunisation statistic.
She called for governments to target areas with the highest zero-dose burden, particularly amid declining development assistance and increasing fiscal pressures.
She also urged leaders to make every zero-dose child a measurable test of equity through integrated primary healthcare systems.
According to her, stronger health workforces, reliable vaccine supply chains and improved national and sub-national data systems are essential for sustainable immunisation progress.
Dibosa-Osadolor further advocated continuous political review of immunisation performance to ensure leaders remain accountable for meeting agreed vaccination targets.
A member of Egypt’s Parliament, Dr Manal El-Sayed, highlighted Egypt’s whole-of-government approach as a model for strengthening immunisation governance.
She said Egypt’s constitution recognises health as a priority and provides children with rights to healthcare, equity and compulsory vaccination.
“Egypt also uses legislation requiring childhood vaccination, while parliamentarians, ministries, civil society and media support awareness and community mobilisation,” she said.
El-Sayed said Egypt’s routine immunisation coverage exceeds 95 per cent, although authorities continue identifying and reaching children who remain unvaccinated.
“The country operates more than 5,300 primary healthcare units providing vaccines through trained personnel and established immunisation schedules.
“Egypt has strengthened vaccination monitoring through digital tracking, SMS reminders, surveillance systems and collaboration with WHO and UNICEF.
“The country is also developing vaccine manufacturing capacity and technology transfer to strengthen supply security during pandemics, epidemics and other disruptions,” she said.
Also, Dr Lul Riek, Public Health Physician and the Southern Africa Regional Director for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) stressed that immunisation was a continental responsibility affecting families, communities and children across Africa.
He noted that Eastern African member states have operationalised CIS alongside accountability mechanisms requiring annual progress reporting.
Riek emphasised the importance of sustained political leadership, momentum and coordinated action to ensure the strategy translates into measurable country-level results.
He called for stronger legislation, dedicated immunisation budgets, accountability frameworks and political commitment to ensure vaccination remains a sustained health-system priority.
He emphasised that Africa knows what works in immunisation, but must mobilise political leadership and resources to reach every child.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Folasade Akpan
