Using immunization delivery strategies to accelerate progress in Africa towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals

Integration of health services brings together common functions within and between organizations to solve common problems, developing a commitment to a shared vision and goats, and using common technologies and resources to achieve these goals. Integration has been the frustrated ratty call. of Primary Health Care for 30 years. This paper discusses the process of integrating child survival strategies and other heath services with immunization in Africa. Immunization is arguably the most successful health programme throughout the continent, making it the Logical. vehicle for add-on services. Strong health systems are the best way of delivering cost-effective child survival interventions in a most sustainable manner. But the reality in many African countries is that health systems have been weak for a number of reasons. Joining additional cost-effective child survival. interventions on to immunization services may provide the needed boost. The unacceptably high childhood mortatity in parts of Africa makes it the ideal location to undertake this exercise. The urgency to scale-up child survival interventions that have proven cost-effective is especially important if the Millennium Development Goats (MDGs) are to be met by 2015. Africa has more to loose than most in failing to scale up to meet these goats, bearing as it does the highest burden of childhood mortatity in the world. But so far, prospects do not Look good for achieving MDG-4 for the countries with the highest mortatity rates. The timeliness of this initiative towards integration could not be better. In the last five years, countries in Africa have received massive injections of financial. resources for polio eradication and measles control. as well as additional funding for a range of immunization-strengthening activities and the introduction of new and under-utilized vaccines. While the data to support integration are Limited, the information to hand suggests the effectiveness of the strategy. Where immunization performance is strong, immunization contacts may be excellent vehicles for additional interventions such as de-worming or Integrated (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.