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Background: Following the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation, 38/47 countries have introduced rotavirus vaccines into the program of immunization in the WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO). Initially, two vaccines (Rotarix and Rotateq) were recommended and recently two additional vaccines (Rotavac and Rotasiil) have become available. However, the global supply challenges have increasingly forced some countries in Africa to switch vaccine products. Therefore, the recent WHO pre-qualified vaccines (Rotavac, Rotasiil) manufactured in India, offer alternatives and reduce global supply challenges related to rotavirus vaccines; Methods: Using a questionnaire, we administered to the Program Managers, Expanded Program for Immunization, we collected data on vaccine introduction and vaccine switch and the key drivers of the decisions for switching vaccines products, in the WHO/AFRO. Data was also collected fromliterature review and the global new vaccine introduction status data base maintained by WHO and other agencies. Results: Of the 38 countries that introduced the vaccine, 35 (92%) initially adopted Rotateq or Rotarix; and 23% (8/35) switched between products after rotavirus vaccine introduction to either Rotavac (n = 3), Rotasiil (n = 2) or Rotarix (n = 3). Three countries (Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria) introduced the rotavirus vaccines manufactured in India. The decision to either introduce or switch to the Indian vaccines was predominately driven by global supply challenges or supply shortage. The withdrawal of Rotateq from the African market, or cost-saving for countries that graduated or in transition from Gavi support was another reason to switch the vaccine; Conclusions: The recently WHO pre-qualified vaccines have offered the countries, opportunities to adopt these cost-effective products, particularly for countries that have graduated or transitioning from full Gavi support, to sustain the demand of vaccines products.

► Immunization is a cost-effective tool that can assist countries to attain of MDGs. ► GIVS helps to reach more people with more vaccines and strengthen health systems. ► New vaccines assist in responding to the most important causes of child deaths. ► There is progress in introduction of new vaccines and country ownership. Immunization programmes have over the years proven to be effective and useful in infectious disease control. However, based on current trends that show that many developing countries will not reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targets, there is an urgent need to accelerate efforts to control the most common conditions still responsible for the largest morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years of age, like diarrhoea and pneumonia, for which safe and effective vaccines are now available. Through World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) strategies and initiatives like the Global Immunization Vision and Strategy (GIVS), Accelerated Disease Control and Reach Every District (RED), major positive achievements like the increasing number of children reached with Diphtheria–Tetanus–Pertussis (DTP) vaccines, significant measles mortality reduction, and the almost complete eradication of polio, have been realised. Many children in developing countries have access to life saving vaccines through the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) support. Supplementary immunization activities against measles and polio continue to offer opportunities to deliver measles and polio vaccines, and other life-saving interventions. The Global Immunization Vision and Strategy 2006–2015 (GIVS framework) can effectively be used to guide countries in addressing some of the remaining challenges to reach the unreached and increase coverage of traditional vaccines, immunize more people against more diseases, support decision making to introduce new vaccines, as well as recognize the opportunity to invest in community health through cost-effective immunization programmes. Introduction of new vaccines should be strengthened and used as vehicles for health systems strengthening as well as for delivery of comprehensive primary health interventions to impact positively on the spiralling disease burden and reduce overall child mortality. A number of countries have adopted and operationalized GIVS through comprehensive multi-year plans for immunization (cMYP). This paper reviews progress with respect to introduction of some of the new vaccines in the East and Southern sub-region of WHO African region in the context of GIVS and MDGs as well as the challenges thereof.

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) play a crucial role in building vaccine confidence and promoting vaccination programmes. HCP vaccination recommendations are often the strongest predictor of vaccine uptake, influencing individuals' acceptance of and demand for vaccination. However, HCP training on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination faces challenges in some countries, including Ethiopia, Malawi, and Uganda. This study summarizes the discussions held during the Coalition to Strengthen HPV Immunization Community Symposium in Africa, the field experiences of co-authors, and expert opinions to inform its findings. Key challenges faced in these countries are maintaining regular and comprehensive HCP training, ensuring continuity due to staff turnover, reaching all health facilities, and including teachers as key mobilizers. Funding constraints, limited communication materials, and human resource shortages can further impact training effectiveness. Recommendations for strengthening HCP training on HPV vaccination programmes include providing adequate training to all HCPs, refresher training, including private sector HCPs and teachers, leveraging local training institutions, and integrating HPV vaccine training into pre-service HCP academic curricula. These actions would be essential for improving HPV vaccine coverage and working towards cervical cancer elimination goals.

•The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted HPV vaccination particularly.•School closures and targeted misinformation were damaging.•Successful recovery efforts needed new relationships and investments.•Key allies were education sector and professional societies.•Key investments were tailored service intensification and communications. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread disruptions to primary health care and other sectors, halting the majority of routine immunisation services and particularly impacting newer, less routinized HPV vaccine programmes. We present a series of five country case studies, drawing directly from frontline experiences in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia, Zambia, and Senegal to explore potential barriers and enablers of national HPV vaccine programme resiliency in the aftermath of a pandemic. A series of common themes emerged, articulating common challenges to maintaining HPV vaccine programmes, common factors that supported programme resilience, and common themes of resource needs to rebuild stronger routine immunisation programmes to face future threats.

Significant progress has been achieved in the introduction of rotavirus vaccines in the World Health Organization, African Region (WHO/AFR), with only 19% (9/47) of the countries yet to introduce the vaccines. Despite this achievement, a considerable number of eligible children in Africa still lack access to these lifesaving rotavirus vaccines. We performed in-depth data exploration and analysis on the WHO/UNICEF rotavirus vaccine uptake estimates of vaccine coverage to document progress and estimated the number of children missing vaccination through under- or un-vaccination between 2012 and 2023. Thirty-eight countries have introduced the vaccine in the national immunization programs and the vaccine coverage rates have increased from 5% to 61% between 2012 and 2023 in the WHO/AFR, compared to 11% to 55% at the global level. Coverage by sub-regions ranged from 48% in Central African countries to 73% in the Southeast sub-region in 2023. Vaccine coverage has been increasing every year, yet some countries reported a significant drop during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020−2022) compared to the pre-pandemic (2019_or earlier) period. For instance, in Senegal, coverage declined from 94% to 70%; Namibia, 90% to 55%; Republic of Congo, 71% to 23 %; for 2019 and 2022, respectively. Four countries experienced a significant decline between 2021 and 2022. For instance, Botswana (85% to 65%), Kenya (95% to 23%), Zambia (87% to 32%), and Zimbabwe (86% to 55%); but coverage increased in 2023 (post-pandemic) in Kenya (71%), Senegal (83%), and Zambia (40%). The estimates of vaccinated children increased steadily over the years, reaching 23.5 million in 2023. However, 257.8 million children missed vaccination between 2012 and 2023, of which 18.5 million in 2022. Although countries in the WHO/AFR have made significant progress in introducing rotavirus vaccines, reaching every eligible child remains a challenge; and more than half of children are missing the full benefit of protection against rotavirus diarrhoea. There is a need for accelerated actions and concerted efforts to reach missed children and support for the nine remaining countries to introduce the vaccine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the worldwide use of rotavirus vaccines initially in 2007 and 2009 applying a strict age restriction criterion due to the potential for age-related association with increased risk of intussusception in infants. The restriction was relaxed in the 2013 after detailed review of robust safety data generated in post-marketing surveillance studies. We assessed the status of the implementation of the 2013 recommendation to remove age restriction in the WHO African region (AFR). Of the approximately 75% (35/47) of countries that had introduced the vaccine by 2018, only 43% (15/35) removed age restriction, exclusively from South and East sub-region (78%, 14/18). Avoiding confusion at the health facilities and financial constraints particularly resources required for re-training the health workers, use of vaccine off-label were cited as the main reasons for not implementing the 2013 WHO recommendation on age restriction removal. The 2013 WHO recommendation has not been fully implemented by African countries, suggesting the need for technical advisory bodies to further guide the countries, continue monitoring the implementation status and impact on the rotavirus vaccine coverage and intussusception in the Africa region.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the leading causes of cirrhosis and liver cancer. In 2019, approximately 1.5 million persons newly acquired chronic HBV infection; among these, 990,000 (66%) were in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region (AFR). Most chronic HBV infections are acquired through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) or during early childhood, and approximately two thirds of these infections occur in AFR. In 2016, the World Health Assembly endorsed the goal of elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HBV, documented by ≥90% coverage with both a timely hepatitis B vaccine (HepB) birth dose (HepB-BD) and 3 infant doses of HepB (HepB3), and ≤0.1% hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroprevalence among children aged ≤5 years. In 2016, the WHO African Regional Committee endorsed targets for a 30% reduction in incidence (≤2% HBsAg seroprevalence in children aged ≤5 years) and ≥90% HepB3 coverage by 2020. By 2021, all 47 countries in the region provided HepB3 to infants beginning at age 6 weeks, and 14 countries (30%) provided HepB-BD. By December 2021, 16 (34%) countries achieved ≥90% HepB3 coverage, and only two (4%) achieved ≥90% timely HepB-BD coverage. Eight countries (17%) conducted nationwide serosurveys among children born after the introduction of HepB to assess HBsAg seroprevalence: six countries had achieved ≤2% seroprevalence, but none had achieved ≤0.1% seroprevalence among children. The development of immunization recovery plans following the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to accelerate progress toward hepatitis B control and EMTCT, including introducing HepB-BD and increasing coverage with timely HepB-BD and HepB3 vaccination. Representative HBsAg serosurveys among children and a regional verification body for EMTCT of HBV will be needed to monitor progress.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is one of the leading causes of cirrhosis and liver cancer. In 2019, approximately 1.5 million people newly acquired chronic HBV infection; of these, 990 000 (66%) were in the WHO African Region (AFR). Most chronic HBV infections are acquired through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) or during early childhood, and about two thirds of the infections occur in the AFR. In 2016, the World Health Assembly endorsed the goal of eliminating MTCT of HBV demonstrated by [greater than or equal to] 90% coverage with both a timely hepatitis B vaccine (HepB) birth dose (HepB-BD) and 3 infant doses of HepB (HepB3), and [less than or equal to] 0.1% seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) among children aged [less than or equal to] 5 years. In 2016, the AFR Regional Committee endorsed targets of a 30% reduction in incidence ([less than or equal to] 2% HBsAg seroprevalence in children aged [less than or equal to] 5 years) and [greater than or equal to] 90% HepB3 coverage by 2020. By 2021, all 47 countries in the Region provided HepB3 to infants from age 6 weeks, and 14 countries (30%) provided HepB-BD. By December 2021, 16 (34%) countries had achieved [greater than or equal to] 90% HepB3 coverage; only 2 (4%) had achieved [greater than or equal to] 90% timely HepB-BD coverage. Eight countries (17%) conducted nationwide serosurveys among children born after the introduction of HepB to assess HBsAg seroprevalence: 6 countries had achieved [less than or equal to] 2% seroprevalence, but none had achieved [less than or equal to] 0.1% seroprevalence. Development of immunization recovery plans following the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to accelerate progress towards hepatitis B control and elimination of MTCT, including introduction of HepB-BD and increasing coverage with timely HepB-BD and HepB3 vaccination. Representative HBsAg serosurveys among children and a regional body for verifying elimination of MTCT of HBV will be necessary to monitor progress.

Rotavirus is a leading cause of severe pediatric diarrhea globally, estimated to have caused 120,000 deaths among children aged <5 years in sub-Saharan Africa in 2013 (1). In 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended rotavirus vaccination for all infants worldwide (2). Two rotavirus vaccines are currently licensed globally: the monovalent Rotarix vaccine (RV1, GlaxoSmithKline; 2-dose series) and the pentavalent RotaTeq vaccine (RV5, Merck; 3-dose series). This report describes progress of rotavirus vaccine introduction (3), coverage (using estimates from WHO and the United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]) (4), and impact on pediatric diarrhea hospitalizations in the WHO African Region. By December 2016, 31 (66%) of 47 countries in the WHO African Region had introduced rotavirus vaccine, including 26 that introduced RV1 and five that introduced RV5. Among these countries, rotavirus vaccination coverage (completed series) was 77%, according to WHO/UNICEF population-weighted estimates. In 12 countries with surveillance data available before and after vaccine introduction, the proportion of pediatric diarrhea hospitalizations that were rotavirus-positive declined 33%, from 39% preintroduction to 26% following rotavirus vaccine introduction. These results support introduction of rotavirus vaccine in the remaining countries in the region and continuation of rotavirus surveillance to monitor impact.