Angola has formalized the new National Immunization Strategy (NIS) 2026-2030, a guiding instrument that reinforces the country's commitment to protecting children's health and strengthening the Expanded Program on Immunization. The Strategy sets clear priorities and ambitious targets, aligned with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and global and regional immunization goals.

Developed in a participatory and evidence-based manner, the NIS places equity, sustainability, and integration of vaccination services at the center of Angola's public health agenda. The WHO played an essential role in its development, providing technical support throughout the process, from situational analysis, priority setting, and needs assessment to the final review of the monitoring framework. 

According to the Minister of Health, Dr. Sílvia Lutucuta, “the National Immunization Strategy 2026-2030 comes at an emblematic moment, as Angola celebrates 50 years of independence. For the government and its partners, protecting every Angolan child is an investment in the country’s future.”

The Strategy sets ambitious and realistic national targets, including achieving 90% vaccination coverage by 2030, reducing the number of children with zero doses to less than 5%, keeping Angola free of wild poliovirus, eliminating neonatal tetanus, and achieving measles elimination targets. To this end, it focuses on strengthening the cold chain, improving sustainable financing, providing continuous training for human resources, and strengthening epidemiological surveillance and outbreak response. According to the National Director of Public Health, Dr. Helga Freitas, this Strategy “will be decisive in ensuring that the country makes consistent progress in protecting children, integrating vaccination into primary health care, and strengthening the response to vaccine-preventable diseases.”

Recent advances in the Expanded Program on Immunization, including the introduction of the HPV vaccine for more than 2.2 million girls, demonstrate the country's commitment to preventing preventable diseases and continuously improving vaccination coverage. 

The implementation of the NIS will be strengthened by collaboration between the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, Rotary International, and other technical partners and donors who will continue to support the expansion of immunization activities, training of professionals, updating of technical standards, and introduction of new vaccine storage technologies.

For the WHO Representative in Angola, Dr. Indrajit Hazarika, “the National Immunization Strategy 2026-2030 is a robust document aligned with international best practices. WHO will continue to support Angola to ensure that every child, in every province, has access to life-saving vaccines.”