Battling preventable diseases: GAVI commits $825m to bolster immunisation services

Global health experts call for better coordination

ISLAMABAD: Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) on Thursday committed $825 million support to strengthen immunisation services and health systems in Pakistan.

Gavi Chief Executive Officer Dr Seth Berkeley said this during a high-level meeting with Health Minister Saira Afzal Tarar here. He said the support will be available for the next five years till 2020.

Dr Ala Alwan, Regional Director at World Health Organisation and Dr Geeta Rao Gupta, Deputy Executive Director Unicef, were also present in the meeting, where state of affairs of routine immunisation coverage in Pakistan was deliberated.

Millions at risk

The three global health leaders expressed grave concern that some three million children have their lives at stake for not being inoculated against nine preventable diseases in Pakistan every year.

“Childhood immunisation in Pakistan is at a crossroads and strong political will is required to ensure that the lives of millions of children are not put at risk,” warned three global health leaders who are on a four day visit to Pakistan to meet with the top leadership of the country to offer support and address challenges in its immunisation program.

The world’s top health experts cited weak coordination between federal and provincial governments as the culprit behind variations in vaccination coverage in each province and called for immediate strengthening of Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) through ensuring accountability, improving reporting mechanism and hiring qualified staff.

“Some 2.7 million children in Pakistan are deprived of vaccine against nine preventable diseases. This needs to be changed,” said Dr Berkley, according to a press release issued by WHO.

WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Alwan said, “Pakistan is not on track for achieving MDG4 which aims at reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2015.