Africa Vaccination Week 2025: Message from Ms Shenaaz El-Halabi, World Health Organization (WHO) South Africa Representative

 

On the occasion of Africa Vaccination Week 2025, we join the continent and the global community in reaffirming our shared commitment to the power and promise of immunisation. This year’s theme, “Immunisation for All is Humanly Possible,” and the slogan “Vaccinated Communities, Healthy Communities” remind us that universal immunisation is not only a moral imperative, but a practical goal within reach.

Africa Vaccination Week is more than a symbolic observance; it is a call to action. Across the region, we continue to see the devastating impacts of vaccine-preventable diseases, with far too many children still unreached. The growing number of zero-dose children, those who have never received a single vaccine highlights the critical gaps that demand urgent attention.

This year’s commemoration builds on the momentum of The Big Catch-Up, the recovery plan launched in 2023 to restore immunisation services disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But recovery alone is not enough. We must go further. We must ensure that no child, no adolescent, no adult is left behind regardless of where they live or their socioeconomic status.

In South Africa, WHO continues to work alongside the government and key partners to strengthen immunization coverage and build public trust. From urban clinics to remote communities, efforts must be intensified to identify and reach zero-dose and under-immunized children, promote vaccine equity, and reinforce routine immunization as a cornerstone of primary health care and Universal Health Coverage.

As we mark the midpoint of the Immunization Agenda 2030, we call on communities to take active steps by engaging with their local health providers and ensuring children receive their scheduled vaccines. We urge health care workers and facilities to prioritize catch-up vaccination and strengthen public trust through clear and consistent communication. We encourage the National Department of Health to sustain momentum through bold, data-driven immunization strategies. We also call on traditional leaders to use their trusted voices to encourage families and individuals in their communities to prioritize immunization. 

And we appeal to partners and other government sectors to integrate vaccination efforts into their programmes across education, social services, and humanitarian response so that every person, everywhere, is protected.

We must not allow misinformation, complacency, or resource constraints to undermine the hard-won progress of recent decades. Since 1974, the Expanded Programme on Immunisation has saved more than 50 million lives across Africa. This legacy must continue.

Africa Vaccination Week is a moment to recommit. It is a reminder that immunisation not only saves lives but builds stronger health systems, empowers families, and protects our collective future.

Let us move forward with urgency, unity, and unwavering resolve. Immunisation for all is not only possible, it is necessary.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) – South Africa.