Immunization programme support in the East African Community (EAC) in collaboration with the Gavi Alliance, Phase V

completed

The project being examined is a continuation of the bilateral contribution to the global vaccination alliance Gavi. The proven project concept for promoting routine vaccination in the East African Community (EAC), which is being carried out in cooperation with Gavi, is to be continued in a fourth phase. The aim of the project is to contribute to reducing child mortality in the EAC. Encouragingly, Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4), to reduce child mortality by two-thirds since 1990, has been achieved in three of the five EAC states that have received funding so far (Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda). In addition to Kenya and Burundi, South Sudan, which joined the EAC as the sixth member in March 2016 and has not yet received any FC funding, has also failed to achieve this goal. The aim of the project is to help secure the successes and to extend them to the entire EAC. This funding is therefore being expanded to include other vaccines (measles second dose), yellow fever and HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccines. The project therefore also contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3), adopted in September 2015, to strengthen and improve the health and well-being of the population. Specifically, vaccinations are intended to prevent serious respiratory and diarrheal diseases, which are still among the main causes of death among children in the EAC. Measles and yellow fever are also fatal in severe cases and are a burden on children's health. The HPV vaccination protects young girls in particular for life against a major cause of cervical cancer. Since the burden of disease is particularly high in poor population groups, poor families in particular benefit from the measure. The reduction in cases of disease relieves the burden on households (especially mothers) and health systems. The project is being carried out in cooperation with Gavi and supports the national vaccination programs (Expanded Programs of Immunization, EPI). The vaccines will therefore be procured through the procurement mechanisms of Gavi and UNICEF and administered as part of the national vaccination programmes in public and private health facilities to the main target group, newborns (up to one year of age) and a secondary target group, which mainly includes older children and young girls; the yellow fever vaccine is generally administered to the entire population in endemic areas. Implementing the project via the EAC offers the decisive advantage of a regional platform with a strong commitment to coordinating and mutually strengthening the vaccination programmes of the EAC states. 30 million euros of FC budget funds are earmarked for the proposed FC project in 2017.