ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) on Friday informed health authorities that the monetary support for strengthening the routine immunisation of children and mothers will be enhanced to one billion dollars by 2020.
Under the Gavi support programme, Pakistan has received 835 million dollars for 12 programmes from 2001 to 2017.
The country is likely to get another $165 million between 2018 and 2020.
Gavi, which was established in 2000, brings together the public and private sectors to help the world’s poorest countries and ensure routine immunisation for children.
The head of the National Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), Rana Safdar, told Dawn that the assistance from Gavi was the backbone of the immunisation programme.
“Gavi has also supported us for the eradication of polio. Currently, it is providing us six million doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) free of cost ever year. Gavi is also providing syringes and safety kits for six million doses,” he said.
Though compared to the oral polio vaccine IPV is costly, Gavi will continue providing the country with the IPV till 2017. The official said it would be better if the assistance was extended till 2020.
Deputy chief executive officer of Gavi, Anuradha Gupta, told the health authorities at a meeting that immunisation was critical to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Immunisation is the most cost-effective intervention. The support is likely to be enhanced to one billion dollars by the year 2020.”
She said her organisation was paying special attention to supporting Pakistan’s immunisation programme, adding special attention needed to be given to the provision of cold chain for vaccines to improve the coverage.
It may be mentioned that vaccines contain live but weak virus so they have to be stored at a certain temperature otherwise viruses can become active any time.
Minister for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar while briefing the delegation, which included members of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO and Unicef, said the government acknowledged that an investment in protection of health of women and children was an investment in the future of the country.
“We have developed a 10-point mother and newborn child health plan of action along with the provincial governments to address major challenges in the provision of services and their uptake by communities. The plan aims at addressing all issues related to the mother and child health,” she told the visiting delegation.
Secretary NHS Ayub Sheikh claimed that the vaccine supply and management had been brought at par with the international standard and even the International Organisation for Standardisation had certified the standard of vaccine supply and management.
It may be mentioned that in April 2015, the FIA raided the warehouse of the Expanded Programme of Immunisation at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and sealed vaccines worth over Rs 440 million. The FIA stated that it recovered around 13,61,000 spoiled viles of pentavalent vaccine worth Rs440 million and 11,800 viles of polio vaccine worth Rs3 million. The Pentavalent vaccine is used against five diseases in children. After the incident, the ministry made arrangements to improve the storage system with the support of a UN agency.
