EAC Immunization Group

The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation currently comprising eight (8) Partner States: the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Federal Republic of Somalia, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. Since the admission of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2022 and Somalia in 2024, the bloc has significantly expanded its demographic and economic footprint. The EAC is now home to an estimated 331–350 million people, covers approximately 5.4 million square kilometers, and has a combined GDP estimated at over US$ 312 billion. (EAC 2023 Statistics).

The work of the EAC is guided by its Treaty, which mandates Partner States to collaborate and deepen integration on political, economic, social and cultural dimensions with a view to improve the quality of life of the citizen. It is under this framework particularly Article 118 of the Treat authorizes the Partner States to cooperate with eventual integration on Health. This how the EAC formed the Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunisation and Health supply Chain Management (EAC RCE-VIHSCM). The RCE works closely with EAC Expanded Program for Immunisation (EPI), National Medical Stores, the National Drug Authorities  and, the public universities and other Supply Chain Management (SCM) leaders to find innovative solutions to solve existing and emerging challenges to immunisation and health supply systems in the region.

Since its establishment and official launch in 2016, the EAC RCE-VIHSCM, hosted by the University of Rwanda in Kigali, has played a key role in addressing critical gaps in health supply chain systems, vaccines, immunization, and pharmaceutical workforce development in the EAC region. 

To date, the Centre has contributed significantly to regional health systems strengthening through specialized academic programmes, professional short courses, applied research, technical assistance, and policy engagement. In alignment with the EAC regional integration agenda, the mandate of the EAC RCE-VIHSCM has further expanded to support regional pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing initiatives, including the operationalization of pooled procurement mechanisms.

The creation of this community of practice (CoP) with support from WHO TechNet-21 is thus a vehicle to institutionalise closer collaboration especially in the face of COVID-19 onslaught. This will help the EAC counter the impact of the pandemic on routine immunisation and to prepare itself for the advent of corona virus vaccine. Besides the EAC-Immunisation Managers, the CoP will aim to pool together other practitioners of health supply chain as well as expertise from UN agencies like Gavi, UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA and reputable CSOs.