Immunization Programme Support in the East African Community (EAC) in collaboration with the GAVI Alliance, Phase VII

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The project 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 seventh 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. 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. 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 are therefore procured via the procurement mechanisms of Gavi and UNICEF and administered as part of the national vaccination programs 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. Implementing the project through the EAC offers the decisive advantage of a regional platform with a strong commitment to coordinating and mutually strengthening the vaccination programs of the EAC states.