MOGADISHU, Somalia, 29th April 2024 - While marking World Immunization Week this year, Somalia’s Federal Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have jointly urged partners and donors to accelerate immunization efforts to reach every child in Somalia.

This year’s World Immunization Week coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Essential Programme for Immunization globally and aims to spur greater engagement around immunization, to reiterate the importance of vaccination, and improve the health and wellbeing of every child, everywhere. This year’s commemoration highlighted the successes of immunization in Somalia since 1978 and the challenges that require a concerted effort – the uninterrupted, seven-year circulation of the polio variant, the large number of children who have never been vaccinated (zero dose children), the recurrent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, diphtheria and whooping cough, and the need for an expanded resource envelop to tackle these challenges.