Each year, Africa Vaccination Week (AVW) provides a critical moment for Africa to reflect on progress and challenges that persist within its vaccination landscape. This year presented an even greater urgency against the backdrop of a shifting global health fiscal environment, the impending Gavi 6.0 replenishment, and the accelerated timeline toward the Immunization Agenda 2030 goals.
As part of AVW 2025 commemorations, PATH, in partnership with WACI Health and the Gavi CSO Constituency, hosted a webinar titled “Navigating Change: Securing Communities with Increased Immunization Investment.”
This strategic dialogue convened regional experts and a diverse cohort of 91 Anglophone and Francophone participants to explore viable solutions to enhance vaccination programs across the continent. The discussions focused on the urgent need for enhanced immunization financing, the critical importance of a fully funded Gavi replenishment, country experience in navigating constrained fiscal environments, adapting context-specific and innovative funding mechanisms, and formulating effective advocacy strategies to drive policy reform and expand budget allocation for immunization.
The webinar featured expert contributions from Professor Julio Rakotonirina (African Union Commission), Keightley Reynolds and Wambui Munge (Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance), Dr. Mustafe Jama (Federal Ministry of Health, Somalia), Jonas Mbwangue (Global Health Advocacy Incubator), Dr. Bvudzai Magadzire (VillageReach and Gavi board), Chika Offor (Vaccine Network for Disease Control), and Wanjiku Manguyu (PATH).
The AVW 2025 overarching theme, “Immunization for All Is Humanly Possible,” underscored the fundamental necessity of collaborative action among all stakeholders to achieve universal immunization. Panelists discussed critical pathways for strengthening immunization across the continent, which included:
- Prioritizing immunization financing. A resounding call was made for countries to place immunization financing at the forefront of their health agendas.
- Formulating evidence-driven advocacy. Civil society organizations (CSOs) were urged to prioritize robust and credible evidence to underpin their advocacy efforts for increased resource allocation and policy adjustments.
- Strategizing stakeholder engagement and partnerships. Collaborative partnerships across sectors were highlighted as essential for a unified and impactful approach. It was noted that rigorous evidence generation will strengthen these engagements, including proactive collaboration with media outlets to amplify advocacy messages and enhance government accountability.
- Fostering intergovernmental collaboration. It was recommended that advocacy efforts target the establishment of robust intergovernmental partnerships between ministries of health and ministries of finance to cultivate a shared understanding of and commitment to immunization financing. There was a call for prioritizing policies that ring-fence and increase immunization financing to ensure longevity beyond political cycles.
- Strengthening domestic resource mobilization. Learning from successful strategies, countries need to generate comprehensive financial data, build compelling economic arguments for immunization, secure high-level and bipartisan support, and increase transparency through legislative or innovative financing mechanisms for sustainable funding.
- Recognizing health as a long-term investment. African countries were called upon to view investing in health infrastructure and programs as long-term investments that yield significant long-term returns in terms of public health outcomes and economic productivity.
AVW 2025 underscored the collective responsibility for ensuring equitable access to immunization across the continent. This week was a powerful reminder that saving lives through vaccines is within our reach. By working together, sharing knowledge, and pushing for the necessary investments, we can make immunization for all a reality.
