Strengthening immunization to advance resilient primary health care and health systems
OVERVIEW
Purpose: The Continental Immunization Strategy (CIS) provides a pragmatic, time-bound roadmap to strengthen immunization systems across Africa by anchoring vaccination within resilient, epidemic-ready primary health care (PHC) and health-security frameworks. It aims to close equity gaps, reach zero-dose populations, and sustain life-course immunization, while advancing the goals of the Addis Declaration on Immunization and Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030).
Vision: A continent where every person benefits from equitable, life-course immunization through resilient, epidemic-ready, and domestically financed PHC systems.
Guiding principles: Member State leadership, ownership and financial sustainability; equity and PHC integration; innovation, digital transformation and evidence-based learning; community trust and engagement; partnership coherence and regional collaboration; accountability and results.
The six (6) strategic pillars and key priorities of the CIS Three core pillars
Advocacy, leadership, ownership and sustainable immunization financing: high-level advocacy to institutionalize domestic immunization financing; foster regional peer learning and mutual accountability.
Digital transformation for life-course immunization and data management systems: establishment of interoperable e-registries with information on all live-births (e.g. e-birth registration) connected with national health information platforms such as the District Health Information System, version 2 (DHIS2) to inform a continental knowledge sharing and innovation platform.
Integration of immunization within PHC service delivery: institutionalization of life-course immunization; increased health workforce capabilities, including community health workforce; and context-specific service delivery (fragile and conflict-affected settings).
Three cross-sectoral pillars
Community engagement, trust-building and social and behaviour change for immunization resilience: institutionalization of social and behavioural data and inclusive social and behaviour change (SBC) governance; scale up of community health workers (CHWs) engagement and youth leadership.
African manufacturing, pooled procurement, and vaccine supply chain resilience: scale up the Africa CDC-led procurement mechanism as market shaping tool for vaccines; prioritize near-term vaccine manufacturing scale-up, with a focus on delivering tangible results between 2026 and 2028; and strengthen the vaccine manufacturing ecosystem.
Emergency preparedness, cross-border health security and epidemic-ready immunization systems – harmonize cross-border standard operating procedures (SOPs); expand regional rapid-response and Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme (FELTP) capacities.
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