Africa intensifies leadership to accelerate Continental Immunization Strategy

African nations are intensifying political leadership and governance to accelerate the Continental Immunization Strategy (CIS) following reports that vaccination coverage remains below pre-pandemic levels. A high-level meeting hosted by the Africa CDC in The Gambia is currently validating a West Africa Regional Roadmap to support this strategy. The roadmap aims to increase immunization coverage, reduce the number of zero-dose and under-immunized populations, and improve the resilience of delivery systems through better supply chain management and disease surveillance.

According to UNICEF, Africa is currently off-track to meet 2030 vaccination targets. Significant challenges persist in West Africa, which has recorded poorer immunization performance than other subregions since 2020. Specifically, Nigeria, Angola, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo account for more than half of the zero-dose children among the world’s ten priority countries. Experts have highlighted measles vaccination as a major concern, noting that missed doses reflect broader issues such as vaccine hesitancy, public trust, and weak sub-national data systems.