Economic benefits of immunisation are well established – returning an estimated US$ 19.8 for every dollar invested. However, policy makers operate in complex environments with competing priorities and fiscal challenges. Available resources need to be allocated across multiple sectors and programs. Securing political buy-in for immunisation requires continuous advocacy to reinforce the prioritisation of immunisation within the health sector and across sectors, due to turnover in government officials, changing financial landscapes, or other contextual factors. In decentralised health systems, national advocacy alone is insufficient: research in multiple MIC settings shows that subnational leaders control both budgets and day‑to‑day implementation and therefore must be engaged early and continuously to build true commitment.
Programmatic aspects, such as disease burden, cost of disease, coupled with economic factors such as affordability and financing usually interact to influence decision-making on NVI. Nevertheless, an advocacy strategy that first builds on the political prioritisation of immunisation, supported by strategies to increase programmatic efficiency in the allocation of resources is crucial for the introduction and sustainable scale-up of new vaccines.
Six countries came together for a Linked workshop to discuss the effective “how-to” of implementing advocacy strategies which target a range of stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Finance (MoF), parliamentarians, and subnational governments to strengthen political commitment to prioritise sufficient domestic resources for immunisation programmes and the introduction of priority new vaccines.
The workshop objectives were to:
- Facilitate cross-country learning and peer exchange by enabling participating countries to share and reflect on their experiences, common challenges, and effective practices in mobilizing domestic resources and introducing new vaccines.
- Build advocacy capacity and skills by equipping participants with strategies, communications and data-driven tools to secure political commitment and prioritize sustainable immunisation financing at national and subnational levels.
- Support practical planning by guiding countries to turn shared knowledge into actionable plans tailored to their contexts for stronger immunisation programmes and successful new vaccine introductions.
Country Posters
- Cuba – English | Mongolian | Spanish | Vietnamese
- Maldives – English | Mongolian | Spanish | Vietnamese
- Mongolia – English | Mongolian | Spanish | Vietnamese
- Philippines – English | Mongolian | Spanish | Vietnamese
- St. Lucia – English | Mongolian | Spanish | Vietnamese
- Viet Nam – English | Mongolian | Spanish | Vietnamese