Partnerships key to immunisation success

Honduras has achieved what many other countries only aspire to: a near-perfect DTP3 vaccination coverage rate of 98%. In 2010, it reported zero cases of diphtheria, Hib meningitis, measles, polio and rubella.

Honduras introduced rotavirus vaccines in 2009 to reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal disease.

Two years later, GAVI helped fund the country’s roll-out of pneumococcal vaccine, in a bid to tackle the high mortality among the under-fives due to pneumonia. 

Delivering vaccines, which must be refrigerated from the moment they are manufactured up until the point they are administered, is not a straightforward task. This is especially true in Honduras, where nearly half of the rural population lacks a reliable electricity supply. 

It takes all stakeholders working in concert to achieve this level of success.