The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #39382

Dan Kress and Bryn Sakagawa, MIM, MPH. International Health, Abt Associates Inc., 4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is entrusted with a mandate to introduce new vaccines to developing countries. One challenge of the GAVI initiative is to identify funding mechanisms and resources that will support the introduction of each successive round of new vaccines over the long-term. In order to meet this challenge, GAVI intends to use the Vaccine Fund (VF) as a catalyst to leverage additional resources for immunizations. Even more important to GAVI is that VF-supported countries demonstrate financial sustainability through the development of financial sustainability plans (FSPs). All VF-supported countries must submit detailed plans that describe how the country will pay for new vaccines such as hepatitis B, Hib and yellow fever over the medium-term.

The GAVI Financing Task Force has prepared a set of guidelines that are intended to assist countries prepare their financial sustainability plans. This presentation will report on the findings from the pilot test of the FSP guidelines in Ghana and Laos. In February 2002, GAVI partners sponsored an international team of health financing specialists to test the guidelines in each country. The guidelines were tested using an evaluation framework and a capacity building assessment tool.

The presentation will describe the experience using the guidelines, the lessons learned from the pilot test, and the final version that resulted from the pilot test. Recommendations and findings from the pilot-test will be discussed. The presentation will also address the implications for future financial sustainability of immunization programs in developing countries.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Describe the components of GAVI’s financial sustainability plan guidelines and the results of the pilot test of the guidelines.
• 2. Discuss how the evaluation protocols were used during the pilot test.
• 3. Articulate the issues and implications raised by pilot test for future financial sustainability of immunization programs.

Keywords: Financing, Sustainability

Related Web page: www.abt-safi.com

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.