Vaccine procurement strengthening initiatives
UNICEF works together with national governments to ensure that countries can timely access affordable and quality vaccines.
UNICEF works together with national governments to ensure that countries can timely access affordable and quality vaccines.
Given UNICEF’s pivotal role in the vaccine market, strengthening the capacity of national vaccine procurement processes has been identified as one area where UNICEF experience can provide relevant guidance and support.
UNICEF, working with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and other Alliance partners, has initiated projects in this area to provide a holistic framework to strengthen government's vaccine procurement capacity within a health system strengthening lens.
Vaccine Procurement Practitioners Exchange Forum (VPPEF)
The VPPEF represents a unique platform to foster knowledge sharing, best practices and strengthen participants’ skills and understanding on diverse vaccine procurement topics. Since its launch in 2015, it has evolved greatly to become a well-established forum that is now part of the Immunization Agenda 2030 .
Through the VPPEF and its online platform (the Vaccine Procurement Practitioners Network), countries have an opportunity to build their vaccine procurement capacity and engage in peer-to-peer dialogue within the community of practice (CoP). Topics of discussions include COVAX, cold chain, planning and forecasting, regulatory systems, supply chain strengthening, vaccine-pooled procurement, health workers, budgeting and financing, and stock management.