NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Washington, DC — Today, a new resource guide, Immunization Financing: A Resource Guide for Advocates, Policymakers, and Program Managers, was released to provide practical advice to low- and middle-income countries seeking to mobilize resources for immunization programs. The guide offers 26 briefs, including eight country case studies, to assist countries looking to sustainably finance immunization.

The resource guide was developed as an open-access tool (www.immunizationfinancing.org) to assist advocates and decision-makers as they evaluate the pros and cons of potential financing sources. The guide is also designed to help users understand and plan for immunization costs, assess which vaccines to adopt, learn how to build broad political support for immunization programs, and determine how to make limited funds work more effectively.

Several major emerging global trends make this resource guide even more relevant:

• Many countries have made historic commitments to immunization in recent years, including the endorsement of the Global Vaccine Action Plan in 2012 by all 194 World Health Assembly member states and the 2016 Addis Declaration on Immunization, in which African countries committed to increasing domestic financing for both vaccines and immunization service delivery.
• The number of new, lifesaving vaccines has continued to expand, offering unprecedented opportunities to countries, but also requiring increased financing.