IPA Statement at the 74th WHO Regional Committee of South-East Asia on Agenda 8.3: Strategic Framework of the South-East Asia Regional Vaccine Action Plan 2022–2030 as aligned with the Global Immunization Agenda 2030
While many countries are still grappling with waves COVID-19, we believe in power of vaccines and hope that vaccines will get us to towards the end of this pandemic. IPA fully supports the Immunization Agenda 2030 and is committed towards playing an active role in supporting Strategic Priority 2 - Commitment and Demand of Immunization Agenda 2030 and thereby contributing to Immunization Agenda 2030.
As the foundation of vaccination acceptance is a public trust and trust in the healthcare professionals, in December 2020, IPA in collaboration with partner organizations launched the IPA Vaccine Trust Course with an aim to increase and utilize the communications and advocacy skillsets of health workers to provide and promote vaccines and immunization. To date, over 4000 healthcare workers across 127 countries have engaged with our course. Our leaders in countries stand ready to work with their governments to achieve global immunization goals.
We have invested a lot in developing and making available COVID-19 vaccines and now it is time to invest equally in developing a robust communication strategy for strengthening trust in immunization systems and ensuring services are appropriate, understood, and accepted by communities making them more likely to be used sustainably. There is a need of a coordinated, large scale, behaviour science-based approach involving all sectors of society to make an impact. IPA looks forward to being working with WHO and partners to ensure that everyone, everywhere, at every age, gets full benefits from vaccines to improve health and well-being.
