At end of visit to Cameroon: Vaccine Alliance Board Chair announces 26 BFCFA to boost vaccination.

He made the announcement during a press conference in Yaounde on December 1. This was in the presence of the Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda Malachie, as well as other officials.

According to the Gavi Board Chair, the sum of 43.62 million dollars, roughly calculated to 26.17 billion FCFA, will be granted to Cameroon to make immunization a top priority in communities. 

This, he said, falls within the framework of Gavi's five-year term agreement with authorities in the country. 

He explained that the amount allocated will be used for the immunization of zero doses, as well as under-vaccinated communities. 

He equally hail the cooperation between Gavi and Cameroon in the last two decades, terming it fruitful. Prof Barroso said the Gavi-Cameroon relationship has been twenty years of sharing and exchange.

Barroso expressed delight that Gavi has been able to contribute to strengthening Cameroon’s health system. 

This, he said, has been through the provision of funding for the development of certain components of the health architecture; support for new and under-used vaccines; support for cold chain optimization; and assistance from Technical and Financial Partners, TFPs.

He also saluted the government working its talk in the cooperation through the purchase and supply of co-financed vaccines; the purchase of traditional vaccines. He cited those against Tuberculosis, Poliomyelitis, Diphtheria and Maternal Tetanus; domestic logistics; as well as contributions to the operational cost of preventive vaccination and epidemic response campaigns. 

These commitments, he insisted, have enabled the country to achieve major successes in disease prevention. To achieve and consolidate the solidarity, Dr Malachie Manaouda, said government is committed to catching up on routine immunization with the next round of funding. 

According to figures, 130,000 zero-dose children have been missed out on routine immunization in recent years.

In addition, Dr Manaouda said, the incidence of malaria in children aged zero to five needs to be reduced, hence the introduction of the vaccine for this age group. Cameroon recently received 300,000 doses of the new malaria vaccine.

To achieve this, the minister said, it will be necessary to overcome inaccurate information, calling to question the new malaria vaccine. 

He equally announced that the malaria vaccine will be put to use beginning January 2024 in 42 health districts.