To deliver on its core mandate as the UN lead agency for health, WHO plays essential roles in supporting countries to prepare for, respond to and recover from disease outbreaks and emergencies with public health consequences. This critical role was boosted recently with funding support from ECHO, which enabled WHO to reach more than 166,637 eligible persons with vaccination against COVID-19 in Arusha region of the United Republic of Tanzania significantly raising the Arusha regional coverage from 55% in June 2022 to 102% in January 2023. The fund from ECHO also helped WHO to train close to 100 health workers for reporting adverse events following immunization (AEFI)engage 400 data assistants and establish standing committees to sustain Risk Communication Community Engagement (RCCE) interventions in four (4) regions. In 2022 alone, ECHO donated US$465,892 to Tanzania to boost its response to COVID-19 pandemic.

Arusha Regional Mass Vaccination Campaign

From a vaccination coverage of 55% as of June 2022, Arusha region has vaccinated 102 % of target population above 18 years as of January 2023 with the technical and financial support of WHO courtesy of ECHO.  Two hundred (200) teams comprising vaccinators, recorders and social workers participated in the COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign in Arusha in January 2023.

Capacity Building for Data Management

Programmatic decisions driven by data are critical for targeted response, resource allocation and prioritization especially where resources are scarcely enough. Funding support from ECHO enabled the engagement and training of 400 data assistants who supported the data entry into ChanjoCOVID in Simiyu, Morogoro and Tanga regions. By the end of the engagement, the data backlog had been reduced to zero, thanks to ECHO. Disaggregated analysis conducted based on the updated and verified data guided mapping of unvaccinated populations, target setting, vaccine distribution and human resource allocation as well implementation of tailor-made strategies in demand creation and vaccine delivery.

Enhancing AEFI Surveillance

Effective reporting of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) is the first step to making sure that vaccine products are safe and administered safely. With funding support from ECHO, close to 100 health workers including 21 pharmacists and health workers from national, regional and district level were trained in two separate sessions conducted by the Muhimbili University of Allied Science.

RCCE

The sustenance of demand for COVID-19 vaccinations is critical for consistent improvement in uptake. Currently, WHO is providing technical as well as financial support for the operationalization of Regional Advocacy and Communications Committees (RACC) and District Advocacy and Communications Committees (DACC) in Tanga, Pwani, Manyara and Geita regions to sustain awareness creation, knowledge building and demand for COVID-19 vaccinations. Precisely, the role of RACC and DACC is to plan, coordinate and ensure the successful implementation and management of advocacy and communication activities for COVD-19 response at the moment and larger public health events on the long-term including routine immunization, supplemental immunization campaigns. Membership of the committees is inter-sectoral and multi-disciplinary to enable mobilization of community support and resources from a wide base.