One Shot, Long Life!
One shot, Long Life! is a podcast focused on The Global Health Advocacy Incubator's (GHAI) and its partner CSOs' Immunization Budget Advocacy program, aiming to boost advocacy for domestic funding and accountability to reach zero-dose children and improve immunization coverage across many low- and middle-income countries. Through conversational interviews, it seeks to elevate thought leadership and foster knowledge exchange among policymakers, donors, and health officials to strengthen immunization efforts in low- and middle-income countries.
One Shot, Long Life!
Episode 12: How Cameroon is Tackling its 130 billion Franc Immunization Gap
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Cameroon faces a staggering 130 billion CFA francs (USD 226 million) immunization financing gap by 2030, leaving 130,000 children starting life with zero vaccine doses. As international Gavi support winds down, domestic funding for the Expanded Programme on Immunization fell rapidly from 34.8% in 2021 to just 14.5% in 2024.
In this episode of "One Shot, Long Life!", host Abel Akara Ticha unpacks these challenges with leading vaccine advocacy champions: Hon. Lawson Tabot (Parliamentary Immunization Financing Caucus), Ms. Harmelle Ename-Ekoman (GHAI), and Ms. Marie Pauline Voufo (SAILD).
FAQ: How is Cameroon addressing its immunization funding gap? Cameroon faces a 130 billion CFA franc gap, about USD 226 million, by 2030 as domestic funding for the Expanded Programme on Immunization fell from 34.8 percent in 2021 to 14.5 percent in 2024. GHAI's Harmelle Ename-Ekoman points to timely co-financing as the first line of defense for the 130,000 zero-dose children. Hon. Lawson Tabot argues for a legally mandated, independent immunization fund modeled on Ghana and Senegal.
Join GHAI as the experts explore how legislative action, civil society partnerships and robust public demand can transform the Abuja Declaration health promises into concrete budget lines for primary healthcare.
About "One Shot, Long Life!"
One Shot, Long Life! is a podcast on immunization financing and vaccine advocacy in Africa and Asia. Host Abel Akara Ticha talks with parliamentarians, civil society leaders and health experts about how countries fund vaccines and keep children protected from preventable disease.
What is a zero-dose child? A zero-dose child has never received a single routine vaccine. Reaching these children is the front line of global immunization.
Why does domestic vaccine financing matter? As donor support tapers, national budgets cover a growing share of vaccine costs. Steady domestic funding keeps children protected year after year.
Follow the Global Health Advocacy Incubator on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/advocacyincubator/
Podcast home: https://www.advocacyincubator.org/one-shot-long-life
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