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Africa

SIF update: Parliamentary briefing in Cambodia

Devendra Gnawali, Sustainable Immunization Financing (SIF) senior program office, provides an update on SIF activities in Cambodia.

A Sabin-sponsored parliamentary briefing was held at the National Assembly of Cambodia on February 21st. Participants included Ministers of Parliament (MPs) from the health committee and officials from the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Ministry of Economy and Finance. Cambodia is making progress on many SIF issues, and two of them, the drafting process of the new immunization law and the national trust fund, were discussed during the briefing. Oral presentations were made by the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) manager and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The Chairperson of the Health Committee of the National Assembly stated their full support for SIF activities and urged the MoH to draft the immunization law. A discussion was also had about organizing a follow-up 2nd round provincial level parliamentary briefing in the near future.

Uganda parliament forms core immunization group

By Mike McQuestion, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Director, Sustainable Immunization Financing

7 Feb Kampala, Uganda - Ten members of parliament (MPs) from the Ugandan National Assembly met today for a Sabin-sponsored briefing on the country's immunization financing. Following a presentation by Sabin Senior Program Officer Diana Kizza Mugenzi, participants discussed advocacy and legislative strategies and agreed to form a core group that will create a parliamentary immunization forum. The MPs will assess immunization program performance in their home districts.

Zimbabwe taking steps to fight water-borne diseases

As reported earlier this week in Voice of America News, the Zimbabwe health ministry is making plans to target typhoid, cholera and other water-borne diseases in the new year. Specialists from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from South Africa are aiding Zimbabwe's capitol, Harare, to address water and sanitation problems that could potentially lead to an outbreak of disease reminiscent of a 2008-2009 cholera outbreak that claimed more than 4,200 lives from nearly 100,000 cases.