As part of the approval process of the new funding proposal for GAVI support for health systems strengthening (GAVI-RSS2 2018-2022), Haiti received the members of the Independent Review Committee (IRC) from 20-23 February 2018. Projected for an amount of US $ 8,676,110 over the next 5 years, the request for GAVI-SSH funding in particular aims at improving the coverage and the equity of vaccines, strengthening the supply chain, cold chain and reinforcing the management and coordination of the program.
The aim of these meetings was to make recommendations for effective and efficient implementation of the next funding needs by the country and its partners.
Over three days, the members of the IEC, the national EPI team, and its partners, PAHO / WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the CDC, representatives of civil society (PHAREV) and representatives from GAVI Headquarters, together participated in a visit on the field to better understand the realities of the implementation of immunization activities at the institutional and community level in the urban areas outside of Port-au-Prince.
The first day was devoted to the presentation of the proposal and the stakeholders were given the opportunity to answer the questions previously identified by the IEC. On the second day, several technical meetings took place and allowed the partners to discuss the specifics of certain aspects related to the proposal (data management and quality, efficiency of training, cold chain) as well as more specific questions related to the campaign against measles set to be scheduled in 2019.
To close, the third day was devoted to the presentation of the IEC conclusions (strengths and points of improvement of the proposal) including their recommendations and their final decision.
As a result, the IRC members welcomed favorably the proposal submitted and recommended that action be taken with regards to the monthly health institution performance monitoring process, the process and effectiveness of immunization capacity-building activities, and the strengthening of capacity building activities, and routine immunization in addition to immunization activities.
With this validation, the signing and transfer of final documents are underway and the first disbursements of this important support to ensure the health of children in Haiti are anticipated within the second half of 2018.
