Editor’s Note:
The Global Vaccine Action Plan (2011-2020) is the current, overarching framework integrating global immunization strategy, goals and indicators. The GVAP was the product of an extraordinary process – the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration – fueled by hundreds of volunteer experts from across international agencies, governments, INGOs, academia, industry and civil society.

The 2014 technical analysis and evaluation of performance against GVAP’s goals and indicators was recently completed by the GVAP Secretariat, which, in turn, supported an assessment and a set of action recommendations by the WHO SAGE Working Group on GVAP.

This work is captured in three key documents highlighted below, and will be considered by the WHO Executive Board at its January meeting. We recommend downloading and reading this documentation.

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EB136/25 – Global vaccine action plan: Report by the Secretariat
12 December 2014
WHO Executive Board – 136th session
26 January–3 February: Geneva
Meeting Documentation: http://apps.who.int/gb/e/e_eb136.html

…3. In accordance with the monitoring, evaluation and accountability process, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization reviewed progress against each of the indicators for the goals and strategic objectives of the global vaccine action plan, based on data from 2013, and prepared the 2014 Assessment Report of the Global Vaccine Action Plan…

ANNEX
A SUMMARY OF THE 2014 ASSESSMENT REPORT OF THE GLOBAL VACCINE ACTION PLAN BY THE STRATEGIC ADVISORY GROUP OF EXPERTS ON IMMUNIZATION
1. The Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) has two great ambitions, to make 2011–2020 the Decade of Vaccines:
:: To deliver vaccination to all – and through this: to end inequity in vaccination, eradicate polio globally, eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus globally, and eliminate (guided by regional targets) measles and rubella.
:: To unleash vaccines’ vast future potential – because their impressive history is nothing in comparison to what they could yet achieve.
2. The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization noted that there has been success in introducing new vaccines, and positive achievements in numerous countries in several areas, including the establishment and strengthening of National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups. However, progress is far off-track. Five of the six goals set by the GVAP with deadlines at the end of 2014 or 2015 still require substantial progress to get the goals on track (poliovirus transmission interruption, maternal and neonatal tetanus, measles and rubella elimination, and DTP3 coverage targets). Indeed, most have seen very little progress. Some have been missed multiple times before.
3. To get the Action Plan back on track, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization recommends that action focus particularly on addressing five priority problems. Each problem is major, but each can be tackled, with a reasonable expectation that doing so will improve progress considerably. Each problem is detailed in the full 2014 Assessment Report of the Global Vaccine Action Plan1 of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization…

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SAGE GVAP Assessment Report 2014
English – http://www.who.int/immunization/global_vaccine_action_plan/en/
[Initial text from Conclusion]
The Global Vaccine Action Plan was established for very good reasons, to meet major and important needs. Progress towards its key targets is clearly far off-track. This should cause alarm bells to ring loudly. Vaccines are not being delivered equitably or reliably. Through vaccination, diseases such as tetanus and polio should have been consigned to history several years ago – previous targets for doing so have repeatedly been missed.

The five off-track targets are closely related. They are not separate, competing endeavours, but close cousins. The key to achieving all of them lies in strengthening immunization systems.

There are clear areas in which focused action can produce considerable improvement. This report has identified five that are particularly important. If these are acted upon, real progress can be made.

The Global Vaccine Action Plan sets important ambitions. If countries and their partners are to achieve these, dramatic change is needed. If they can do so, millions of deaths will be prevented.

This report’s recommendations need to be implemented with great urgency. The ‘Decade of Vaccines’ is one-third through, and the Global Vaccine Action Plan is an opportunity that should not be lost.

The SAGE, through its Global Vaccine Action Plan Working Group, will reexamine the situation annually.

This report has made 18 recommendations…

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GVAP Secretariat Report
The GVAP Secretariat Report is prepared jointly by the GVAP secretariat’s agencies (consisting of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GAVI Alliance secretariat, UNICEF, US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and WHO). This detailed technical report is the basis used by SAGE to assess the progress made towards the achievement of GVAP Goals in its SAGE GVAP Assessment report.
GVAP Secretariat report 2014 -DRAFT-docx, 3.48Mb