By Aaron Bundu Lahai-Head of Media & Public Relations
Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, Friday 2nd May, 2025, joined the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and its partners to commemorate the 2025 World Immunization Week. The commemoration ceremony took place at the Bintumani Conference Center, Aberdeen in Freetown.
As keynote speaker, he narrated the immense gains made by Sierra Leone in the health sector.
Some of the gains he explained include the increase of budgetary allocation from 6 percent in 2018 to 11 percent present, though the Abuja Declaration states 15 percent, emphasizing that Government will increase budgetary allocation in the coming years to meet the Abuja Declaration for every sub-Sahara country.
He informed that the 11percent budgetary allocation by the Sierra Leone Government has led to an increase in the number of healthcare workers, the closure of the gap in the health sector human capital relating to the ratio of nurses to patients, the reduction of infant and maternal mortality in Sierra Leone.
Vice President Jalloh thanked partners such as the Africa Union, Africa Center for Disease Control, Gavi and others for choosing Sierra Leone to host the 2025 Africa Immunization Week. He reminded participants that the only way they and their kids can be dynamic is through vaccination. He described the theme for the 2025 commemoration “humanly possible: immunization for all is humanly possible” as a bold call to action, the theme shows that working together as partners it is possible. He buttressed that the celebration of the fifty-one of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) was the best way ever as Sierra Leone is honoured to host the ceremony.
The Honourable Vice President lauded the collective effort of the Government of Sierra Leone, partners, health workers and communities to save lives, and for continue effort to save millions of lives in the country. He noted that the commemoration ceremony is a testament of the wonderful work done on immunization. “Fifty-five years ago, child immunization was a distance hope in many parts of the world including Africa” he narrated. He thanked the Extended Programme on Immunization for investing in vaccines that have become one of the most impactful public health tools to mankind. He stated that Sierra Leone is witnessing the transformative power of vaccines for the first time.
Vice President Jalloh elaborated on the gains the country will continue to make in child health, noting that decreasing child mortality is a vivid testimony of the new era. He reaffirmed Sierra Leone commitment to vaccines equity. He furthered that Government does not only see vaccines equity as a right or privileged but a fundamental human right. He stated that Sierra Leone is committed to achieving the Immunization Agenda 2030 as well as the Africa Regional Strategic Plan on Immunization.
He told the audience that the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Health has established a strong national immunization programme entrenched within the country’s primary healthcare system. He disclosed Government’s commitment to meet its financial commitments towards achieving national and global immunization targets, the introduction of several new vaccines for diseases such as measles, polio by the Government since 2016.
He revealed that twenty percent of under-five mortality is due to malaria according to data, adding that the new malaria vaccine initiated in 2024 is expected to reduce the hospitalization of severe malaria for under five kids, with seventy-one percent of children receiving at least a single dose of the vaccine. The objective of the 2024 malaria vaccine initiative is to ensure no child is left behind irrespective of circumstances or communities he stated, noting that the initiative is a commitment by the Government of Sierra Leone to make sure no child is left behind.
Vice President Jalloh reechoed the ten commitments of the Addis Ababa Declaration on Immunization. He pledged Sierra Leone commitments to invest sustainably in the country’s national immunization program and strengthened the country’s health system to be resilience, ensuring that no child is left behind. He called on partners to pay attention to few things in order to gain the achievements made across Sierra Leone and the world.
The first thing he mentioned is to scale up strategic partnership to consolidate the gains made, and secured predictable financing to support immunization in the Africa continent and across the world. He suggested for the introduction of an Africa led initiative like the Africa vaccines manufacturing initiative which is capital intensive, which he described as a sure part to consolidate the gains made and build on those gains moving further. He admonished African stakeholders to make a bold shift from distributing and administering vaccines to producing vaccines in the continent, stressing that private sector involvement is needed in the vaccines production. He further called for the private sector to be encouraged so as to address the gap to ensure Africa Continent is able to produce and manufacture its own vaccines, adding that private sector involvement can help the continent to meet the financing challenges of supporting vaccines.
The Sierra Leone Minister of Health and Sanitation Dr Austin Demby said that the immunization week is dedicated to showcase the transformative power of vaccines to ensure that no child is left behind. He maintained that the 2025 immunization week is a call to action to remind the participants that immunization is a fundamental human right and a message of hope. He intimated the audience about the significant strides made by the country on immunization due to the tireless efforts of health workers, and the unwavering support from international partners including GAVI.
The Country Representative of the World Health Organization in Sierra Leone Dr George Ameh disclosed that infant mortality has reduced to 40% at the Global level through the introduction of vaccines targeting thirty diseases. He attributed the hosting of the commemoration ceremony in Sierra Leone as a testament to the visionary leadership of the Government and the Ministry of Health, and the collaborative work that exist among the partners in terms of ensuring that the children in Sierra Leone received vaccines in a timely manner. He commended the work done by health workers in the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone who travelled every corner to make sure every child is reached.
