Continuous and uninterrupted immunization, especially during public health emergencies is a crucial and requiring special consideration. As a vital health service, immunization is an efficient tool that protects the health of communities and reduces disease burden. Therefore, immunization improves the overall health situation and protects the economy of countries. Thus, the prioritization of immunization services as an integral part of resilient health systems reduces human and economic losses associated with public health emergencies.

GHD|EMPHNET held its eleventh webinar within its WEBi Series on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, titled “Building Resilient Immunization Programs, Reducing Vaccination Inequities.” The webinar highlighted the impact of recurrent emergencies on immunization programs. Furthermore, it shed light on the challenges and success associated with maintaining immunization activities during an emergency.

The webinar was led by three health experts, namely Infectious Disease Epidemiologist, US CDC/IFRC, Dr. Frank Mahoney; National EPI Manager, Afghanistan, Dr. Ghulam Dastagir Nazary; and Epidemiologist and Immunization Senior Technical Advisor for Gavi, Dr. Stephen Sosler. The webinar was facilitated by Public Health Programs Director at GHD|EMPHNET, Dr. Magid Al-Gunaid.

In his opening address, Dr. Al-Gunaid welcomed the webinars’ speakers and attendees and introduced the webinar’s focus and gave a brief on the webinar’s topic. Following his remarks, Dr. Al-Gunaid welcomed the first presenter Dr. Frank Mahoney who started his presentation by stressing the importance of this timely and important webinar. In his presentation, Dr. Mahoney highlighted the impact of having unvaccinated children in conflict and fragile settings. He also suggested ways to reach these children.

Then Dr. Mahoney also discussed civil conflict and its impact on immunization. He shed light on key challenges to deliver immunization services when working in conflict settings including insecurity, availability of trained staff, loss of infrastructure and supply chain, mistrust between the service providers and the communities they serve, Dr. Mahoney then concluded by mentioning key innovations to support vaccination in conflict settings such as satellite images to characterize where the target population are living and to estimate the population size, adapting cold chain to prepare for disruptions, improve the stability of vaccines, and community engagement strategies.   

The second presenter, Dr. Dastagir Nazary, spoke about the several outbreaks that were experienced in Afghanistan in the past five years. These included; Measles Outbreak, Polio Outbreak, and the COVID-19 Outbreak. He then shared Afghanistan’s best practices for responding to these outbreaks using a community-based surveillance network for demand generation. Dr. Nazary then moved on to discuss Afghanistan’s program success in maintaining immunization during emergencies. He further noted how lessons learned from other countries can be utilized. Finally, he discussed the way forward in delivering the COVID-19 vaccine by March and building a capacity of national and provincial level staff for any potential emergencies.

The third presenter, Dr. Stephen Sosler started his talk by defining Gavi’s 5.0 strategy for leaving no-one behind with immunization. He stated that this strategy attempts to reach under-immunized and zero-dose children and that it also ensures that the children receive a full schedule of EPI vaccine. He also spoke about building platforms that can deliver other primary health care services. He then stressed the importance of collaborating with other partners and agencies in order to be able to achieve Gavi’s 5.0 strategy and make a difference.

Dr. Sosler concluded his presentation by mentioning some steps yet to be taken in order to continue to expand the effectiveness of working in fragile areas. Such steps including continuing to sign additional Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs), engaging with humanitarian partners, in addition to enabling operational environment, facilitating engagement of new countries at country level, supporting engagement of new partners in regional working groups, and continuing global advocacy on missed populations, including the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination efforts.

Following the presentations, Dr. Al-Gunaid facilitated a Q&A session, and he then wrapped up the discussion by thanking the speakers and giving key takeaways. A total of 205 participants attended the webinar deeming it another success in the EMPHNET WEBi Series.