Report
African Vaccination Week 2026 - Regional Implementation Report
African Vaccination Week (AVW) 2026 was observed across the WHO African Region from 24 to 30 April 2026 under the theme "For Every Generation, Vaccines Work" and the regional slogan "Vaccinated Communities, Healthy Communities." Marking the sixteenth edition of the initiative and falling at the midpoint of the Immunization Agenda 2030, the week served as a platform to renew political commitment, advance equity for un- and under-immunized populations including zero-dose children, and profile immunization as a lifelong investment anchored in primary health care.
This report synthesizes implementation across the Region, drawing on eighteen country reports and documented activity in a further nine countries through partner and published sources. It covers the regional launch in Brazzaville, which coupled the observance with the national introduction of the hepatitis B birth dose; Burundi's nationwide introduction of HPV vaccine; the conclusion of the Big Catch-Up initiative; and the launch of the Continental Immunization Strategy, alongside a joint advocacy article by the African Union, OAFLAD and WHO.
The report documents how countries reached zero-dose children through active search and catch-up, delivered life-course services with HPV vaccination as the anchor, timed new vaccine introductions to the week, and applied context-specific approaches to reach the unreached, from vaccination boats and horseback outreach to school-based sessions and digital data capture. It also sets out the partnerships convened during the week, the communications reach achieved, the constraints countries faced, and the lessons and recommendations for future editions.
The report concludes that AVW delivers most when it strengthens existing national systems rather than competing with them, and that its value lies in what it sustains beyond the week itself: continuity of proven approaches, domestic financing for immunization, and alignment behind a shared regional agenda.
Authors
Languages
- English
Publication year
2026
Type
Report
Categories
- Programme management
Organisations
- World Health Organization (WHO)
Tags
- Catch-up
- Community engagement
- Demand
- Equity
- IA2030
- Immunization information systems
- Integration
- Life-course
- New vaccine introduction
- Optimize
- Outreach
- Sustainability
- Zero-dose
WHO Regions
- African Region
