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World Health Organization (WHO) data, vaccination prevents more than 20 potentially fatal diseases and saves around 3 million lives every year
From April 24 to 30, 2025, Angola joins the other countries on the African continent to mark the 15th edition of African Vaccination Week (AVW), an initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO), which aims to promote vaccination as a fundamental right and one of the most effective public health interventions.
Under the slogan “Vaccination for all is humanly possible”, this year’s campaign highlights the importance of ensuring equitable access to vaccines for all people, especially children with “zero doses”. In Africa, millions of children have missed out on routine vaccinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other disruptions to health services. Angola is among the most affected countries, ranking third on the continent in the number of children with “zero doses”, totaling more than 500,000 children.
African Vaccination Week represents a strategic opportunity to strengthen political commitments, mobilize communities, and revitalize the country’s national and international partnerships that sustain vaccination programmes. According to World Health Organization (WHO) data, vaccination prevents more than 20 potentially fatal diseases and saves around 3 million lives every year.
WHO studies also show that investing in vaccination is essential to prevent debilitating diseases such as measles, polio and tuberculosis, significantly reducing healthcare costs by minimizing the need for medical treatment and hospital admissions.
Consequently, the benefits go beyond the health sector and result in substantial returns in several dimensions: sustainable economic growth, increased productivity, improved quality of life, higher levels of schooling, and strengthened community resilience.
The Angolan government has made significant efforts to strengthen the immunization programme, including allocating a budget for the purchase of vaccines, investing in refrigeration equipment, and plans to introduce new vaccines, such as the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
During the 1st National Forum on Primary Health Care and Immunization, held in June 2022, the Angolan government reaffirmed its commitment to immunization as a strategic platform for achieving universal health coverage. On the occasion, the Minister of Health stressed that “the investment that Angola has made in the Vaccination Programme is a reflection of the Executive’s commitment to strengthening the National Health Service, to increase access, guarantee equity, promote humanization and encourage innovation in essential health services”.
To achieve these goals, the country has relied on the continuous support of strategic partners, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Gavi – Alliance for Vaccines, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among others, to ensure that no child is left behind.
However, several challenges remain, namely the limited capacity for adequate storage and transport of vaccines, the lack of local infrastructure to ensure their safe arrival in all communities, the shortage of qualified immunization technicians, and the still insufficient coverage of vaccination services in the country.
To strengthen the vaccination system in Angola and help children with incomplete vaccination schemes recover, it is necessary to intensify the actions underway, speeding up the implementation of urgent and crucial measures. These include increased investment by the government, the allocation of more financial resources for healthcare and vaccination programs.
It is also essential to improve vaccination infrastructures, support public policies prioritizing health, strengthen immunization programmes, foster collaboration with international partners and the private sector, and actively involve communities. Improving vaccination coverage means, above all, strengthening and expanding fixed, mobile, and advanced vaccination teams at the community level.
African Vaccination Week 2025 is, above all, a call to action: to protect every child, every family, and every community. Because vaccinating everyone is possible, and humanly urgent
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Lusaka — African health ministers and partners are calling for increased investment in integrated health services to address the growing burden of severe noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), particularly those affecting women and underserved populations across the region. At a high-level side event during the Seventy-fifth session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa, delegates emphasized the urgent need for equitable access to prevention, screening, treatment, and rehabilitation across the continuum of care for NCDs. Disparities are especially pronounced in rural areas, where health infrastructure and services remain inadequate. Breast and cervical cancers are among the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women in sub-Saharan Africa—particularly cervical cancer, which is both preventable and treatable. It remains the most common cause of cancer death for women in the region. In 2022, Africa accounted for nearly a quarter (23%) of the 76 000 global cervical cancer deaths. Meanwhile, severe NCDs such as Type 1 diabetes, sickle cell disease, and heart conditions claim more than half a million lives annually, including among children, adolescents, and young adults in some of the continent’s poorest communities. Inequitable access to health services continues to hinder efforts to reduce this burden. To improve cervical and breast cancer care in the region, urgent investment is needed in leadership, governance, and financing. Strengthening these foundations is critical in the current funding landscape. Advancements in strategic planning, healthcare infrastructure, workforce training, and—most importantly—equitable access to screening, diagnostic, and treatment services are essential. To address these challenges, WHO and its partners showcased successful integrated models such as the Women’s Integrated Care for Cancer Services (WICS), the BEAT Breast Cancer Project, and the PEN-Plus Strategy. WICS strengthens early detection, treatment, and integration of women’s cancer services into primary health care systems in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. The BEAT Breast Cancer Project is a transformative multi-year initiative aimed at reducing breast cancer mortality among women in Tanzania and Ghana through early detection, timely diagnosis, and comprehensive treatment access. “PEN-Plus, WICS and the BEAT Breast Cancer Initiative are models for a new standard of care, rooted in equity, access and health justice. I urge countries to prioritize policies that embed these models into broader health system strengthening, said Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa”. Côte d’Ivoire offers a compelling example of progress, combining high HPV vaccination coverage—reaching over three million girls (91.4%)—with WICS-supported community-based screening campaigns to strengthen cervical cancer prevention. In Kenya, cervical cancer screening has been successfully integrated into national health services. “This gathering marks a pivotal moment to accelerate action for breast cancer prevention in Africa. We deeply value the leadership of the Ministries of Health of Ghana and Tanzania, and the steadfast support of the Pfizer Foundation in helping us achieve this milestone. The side event builds momentum for the policy prioritization of women’s cancers, partnerships to strengthen the broader women’s cancer ecosystem, and advance a health-systems approach to breast cancer prevention and management”, said Dr Somesh Kumar, Senior Director, Jhpiego. PEN-Plus expands access to care for severe NCDs at the district hospital level. Since its implementation, 20 countries in Africa have increased access to services for severe NCDs. Over 15 000 people are currently receiving treatment for chronic conditions such as sickle cell disease and Type 1 diabetes through PEN-Plus clinics.
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