TBT: Looking beyond the money: Crucial steps to getting vaccines to children

Over the past 5 years we have had some great, insightful and inspiring posts, many of whose content is still relevant today. For this reason we are implementing TBT on the blog. Every Thursday we will run blogs from the past. Enjoy!
The following post originally ran on May 8, 2012.

Without money, many nations can’t afford to tackle health care issues and introduce the life-saving vaccines that are critical to child survival in the developing world.  But even after a vaccine is introduced and money has been spent, some children never see even the first dose.  With so much investment and effort, you wonder — how can that be?
Take Nigeria, the country with the second largest number of child deaths globally.  Over the past few years, they’ve raised vaccine coverage in many parts of the country to nearly 70%.  But progress is fragile, and results uneven.  Some areas have coverage rates above 80%; others are barely providing any vaccine.  Economic status and presence or absence of donor funding don’t fully explain the disparities. It’s not just the money – there must be something more.
To find out, a team led by Dr. Chizoba Wonodi at our International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, worked with the government of Nigeria to interview 126 stakeholders in 8 states that best exemplify the successes and challenges in immunization coverage.   Dr. Wonodi’s team found that often, it’s not the amount of money that’s t...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - February 19, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: TBT Source Type: blogs