Imperatives for ensuring immunisation: a CSO perspective

The important role played by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in supporting routine immunisation services, creating demand for underutilised and new vaccines and strengthening health systems is widely recognised. As members of the Gavi Alliance, UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) share similar interests in developing strategic partnerships with civil society, additionally, this is an objective of United Nations reform.

CSOs in Asia have long been involved in public health including community mobilisation and increasing access to services for marginalised and hard-to-reach populations, especially in areas with sub-optimal government infrastructure.

CSOs also play a vital role in providing technical assistance, programme monitoring, evaluation and documentation, and operational research, to name just a few.

Despite the recognition that CSOs play vital roles in immunisation and health systems, they often have difficulty accessing fora where they can share their experiences and expertise to influence health policy.

In that relation, the decision to conduct a regional CSO activity in Asia originated from the June 2015 Gavi CSO Constituency Steering Committee meetings in Geneva. The Steering Committee aims to strengthen the collaboration of CSOs in Asia by bringing organisations together to reflect upon the role of CSOs in immunisation programmes in the region and to facilitate the creation of synergies among CSOs and agencies who contribute to reaching the SDGs.

Most of the countries in the region grapple with inequities in access to immunisation. A regional meeting would be conducive to sharing best practices, discussing what works in increasing coverage and equity in immunisation services, and understanding where Asia Pacific regional collaborations on health currently exist and how we might strengthen them.

Following a long process, an Asia Regional CSO Workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh is going to be organised during February 27-28, 2017 on Empowerment of Civil Society in Asia: Boosting Collaboration and Involvement in Immunisation and Health Programmes.

Anuradha Gupta, Deputy CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance said on this occasion, "For Gavi, CSOs are an important constituency, extremely vital. I always feel that the Alliance is incomplete without the civil society organisations – you are the watchdogs, you are the conscience keepers, but you are also directly the service providers. As Gavi moves into a new strategic era in 2016-2020, which is focused in improving coverage equity and sustainability of immunisation making sure that every child who is today missed receive the full range of lifesaving vaccines, the role of CSOs is going to become an even more critical than before."

She also added, "The role of country platforms would become extremely important. We are now really hoping to see some very encouraging outcomes of this engagements."

E-mail: tareq.salahuddin@thedailystar.net