GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance; the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office; and the Government of Nepal convened a side-event at the Seventy-eighth session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia on 13 October 2025 in Colombo, Sri Lanka on “Enhancing Programmatic and Financial Sustainability of Immunization Programmes in the South-East Asia Region”. The meeting was attended by delegations from Member States, which included the Honorable Minister of Health of Bangladesh, H.E. the Ambassador of Nepal, H.E. the Ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and senior officials from the Ministry of Health and Mass Media of the Government of Sri Lanka, led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Health. It was also attended by the Officer-in-Charge of WHO South-East Asia, Director of Communicable Diseases at WHO SEAROand Chief Country Delivery Officer from GAVI, along with other senior representatives from WHO, Gavi, and partner organizations.
H.E. Purna Bahadur Nepali, Ambassador of Nepal to Sri Lanka, in his address, emphasized immunization as a cornerstone of equity, human development, and health security. He highlighted the Region’s progress — routine immunization coverage reaching 92%, reduction of zero-dose children by over half, and Nepal’s own achievements in introducing HPV and typhoid conjugate vaccines while sustaining high coverage through digital tools and strong political commitment.
Dr. Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge, WHO South-East Asia Region, acknowledged the Region’s remarkable vaccination successes but cautioned against complacency amid tightening fiscal space. She underscored the need for increased domestic financing to sustain gains as external support declines, and reaffirmed WHO’s continued technical assistance to Member States, while WHO committed continued technical support on programme strengthening, evidence use, digital tools, supply systems and financing strategies.
Mr Thabani Maphosa from Gavi presented the Gavi Leap initiative, a country-centric operating model aligned to Strategy 6.0, designed to simplify funding levers, strengthen accountability among partners, and give countries greater agency over technical assistance and resources. A core theme was vaccine portfolio optimisation and prioritisation —sequencing introductions, matching ambitions to fiscal realities, and using data to balance epidemiology, delivery capacity, and affordability.
The panel discussion brought together Dr Vinod Bura from WHO SEARO, Dr Bibek Lal from Nepal, Dr Nimal Gamagedara from Sri Lanka, and Mr Thabani Maphosa from Gavi. The panel discussion was effectively moderated by Dr BJC Perera, a consultant paediatrician from Sri Lanka, ensuring a focused and engaging exchange that highlighted regional achievements, emerging challenges, and strategies for sustaining immunization gains across the South-East Asia Region. Dr Vinod Bura highlighted the Region’s progress in achieving high coverage and eliminating several vaccine-preventable diseases through strong national commitment and partnerships. He highlighted sustainability as the next key challenge, calling for optimal resource use and continued domestic investment. Dr Bibek Lal shared Nepal’s success in halving zero-dose children, expanding new vaccine introductions, and increasing national co-financing despite fiscal challenges. Dr Nimal Gamagedara described Sri Lanka’s sustained >95% coverage during economic hardship, crediting strong political commitment and evidence-based governance. During the exchange of ideas from the attendees, the Government of India reaffirmed its full domestic financing of the Universal Immunization Programme, underscoring sustainable national ownership as key to long-term financial stability. While UNICEF emphasized the importance of strengthening supply chain resilience and maintaining affordable vaccine procurement for countries transitioning from Gavi support.
The session concluded with the closing remarks by Dr Anil Jasinghe, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Government of Sri Lanka where he highlighted the shared agenda: enhancing the programmatic and financial sustainability of immunization programmes in the WHO South-East Asia Region requires unwavering political commitment, resilient systems, and innovative partnerships. As development and health assistance gradually declines, strengthened domestic ownership will be critical to sustaining immunisation gains; in addition, this time of change also presents opportunities to be explored through sustained collaboration among governments, WHO, Gavi, UNICEF, and other partners.