title: Creating sustainable financing and support for immunization programs in fifteen developing countries.
abstract: Immunization programs are important tools for reducing child mortality, and they need to be in place for each new generation. However, most national immunization programs in developing countries are financially and organizationally weak, in part because they depend heavily on funding from foreign sources. Through its Sustainable Immunization Financing Program, launched in 2007, the Sabin Vaccine Institute is working with fifteen African and Asian countries to establish stable internal funding for their immunization programs. The Sabin program advocates strengthening immunization programs through budget reforms, decentralization, and legislation. Six of the fifteen countries have increased their national immunization budgets, and nine are preparing legislation to finance immunization sustainably. Lessons from this work with immunization programs may be applicable in other countries as well as to other health programs.
authors.affiliation: Sabin Vaccine Institute, Washington, DC, USA. mike.mcquestion@sabin.org
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McQuestion
authors.forename: Devendra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gnawali
authors.forename: Clifford
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kamara
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kizza
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mambu-Ma-Disu
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mbwangue
authors.forename: Ciro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Quadros
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D046688:Child Mortality; D003906:Developing Countries; D005378:Financial Support; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods