African Vaccination Week 2025: WHO Calls For Bold Action To Leave No Child Behind
Princess-Ekwi Ajide
Abuja – As African Vaccination Week 2025 kicks off across the continent, the Acting WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has issued a passionate call to action: “Immunisation for all is humanly possible.”
The week, observed annually from April 24 to 30, highlights both the monumental gains of vaccines and the urgent gaps that persist.
Dr. Ihekweazu emphasised that while immunisation has saved over 150 million lives in the last five decades, Africa still faces a critical challenge as millions of children remain unprotected from deadly but preventable diseases.
“In 2023 alone, 6.7 million African children received no vaccines at all,” he revealed. “These zero-dose children are a glaring reminder that equitable access to vaccines is still out of reach for too many.”
This year’s theme underscores a renewed push to restore and expand routine immunisation services disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It also marks the halfway point of the Immunisation Agenda 2030, a global commitment to reach every child by the end of the decade.
Notable strides have already been made. Between 2023 and 2024, Africa saw a remarkable 93% drop in vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 cases, and new vaccines—like those for malaria and HPV—are opening doors to better protection for vulnerable populations.
Still, Dr. Ihekweazu says more must be done.
He called on governments to boost domestic investment, health systems to integrate vaccines into essential care, and communities to fight misinformation and vaccine hesitancy.
“Vaccinated communities are healthy communities,” he said. “Let’s turn our promises into progress. No one should be left behind.
