The quest to strengthen global health systems goes beyond the work of organizations like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, that champion this cause. It’s also about the unsung heroes.
Like the volunteer who goes the extra mile to deliver vaccines, or the healthcare worker staying late into the night to ensure every child gets their life-saving shot. It’s that local leader building vaccine trust in his community, the courier navigating unpaved roads to remote communities, and the organizations developing new solutions.
Every person and organization along this process plays a critical role. One slip-up could mean millions of children could go unprotected, a disease spreads unchecked, a community loses hope. They are not just nameless faces — they’re mothers, fathers, neighbors, determined to make sure no one is left behind.
Here are their stories.
Dr. Sangwe Clovis Nchinjoh: Braving Floods for Manoka’s Children
In the remote island health district of Manoka, Cameroon, home to 19,000 people living on 47 islets, seasonal floods and unpredictable tides isolate families vulnerable to preventable diseases. Over 90% of children under two in this health district have never received a single vaccine.
Despite these daunting geographical and logistical challenges, Dr. Sangwe Clovis Nchinjoh, also known as “the rural doctor” set out to close this shocking “zero-dose” gap. He and his team developed a “last-mile” vaccine logistics strategy by establishing micro-health facilities across Manoka’s busiest islets to ensure vaccines were available each time they were needed.
They also incorporated a safe waste disposal management system into this logistics strategy, trained local nurses to deliver life-saving immunization and basic healthcare services, and partnered with the municipal council to manage the micro-health facility and ensure sustainability.
The results were remarkable. The percentage of children vaccinated with a single shot of diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus-containing vaccine (DPT1) rose from 15% in 2019 to 51% in December 2022, with the percentage of children receiving the recommended three doses of the DPT vaccine reaching 26%. Antenatal care uptake and vaccine acceptance also improved among mothers with many of them referring unvaccinated children of their peers to the micro-health facilities.
Clovis Nchinjoh Sangwe, founder of the NGO Rural Doctors, is photographed in Yaounde, Cameroon on Sept. 18, 2024.
Look Up, There’s Hope in the Sky
For mothers, the health of their child comes first. Sometimes, they walk miles to the closest primary healthcare center to get access to life-saving vaccines only to return with empty hands. This is the story of Etalemahu Geletu and many mothers of Hirko village, a remote community in Ethiopia’s Hadiya Zone riddled with bad roads that impact vaccine supply and storage.
In desperate situations like this, the only thing these mothers could do is look up to the sky, praying for help. But this time, there’s a ray of hope – a 3 kg-capacity remotely piloted drone called Kite. Built by Swoop Aero, and in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply, the Global Fund, Gavi, and the UPS Foundation, Kite is Ethiopia’s first long-range medical drone.
Kite’s impact marked a turning point in reaching zero-dose children in the Hadiya Zone. It filled critical cold-chain gaps, streamlined routine immunizations, and boosted coverage in hard-to-reach regions. Over a 30-day pilot, it completed 44 flights, delivering 6,936 lifesaving vaccine doses to six hard-to-reach communities in this area.
Community Health Workers and Chiefs in Uniform Boost Vaccine Uptake
Vaccine coverage has long lagged behind due to distrust, anti-vaccine misinformation and language barriers in Eastleigh North, Nairobi. On Fridays, Josiah Kiweu, Eastleigh North Location Chief – a local-level administrative official under the Ministry of the Interior – and his assistants don their uniforms to join community health promoters (CHPs) in a door-to-door sensitization drive, sharing accurate vaccine information among the locals.
Skepticism ran high initially. Families often wouldn’t open their doors, some citing medical advice from abroad to refuse vaccine shots. With the consistent presence of local chiefs and trusted CHPs, and endorsements from religious leaders, this skepticism shifted into acceptance. Eastleigh North had only a 45% vaccination uptake in 2012, but now ranks second among Nairobi’s 17 constituencies.
The “Unmanly” Fathers’ Club
In Koukiri, a village in northern Benin, traditional norms once kept fathers out of child-care roles. But that didn't stop Joseph Adamou and Sanni Demon from joining the Fathers’ Club – a UNICEF initiative, run locally by the NGO Sia N'Son. This dedicated group of “activist dads” organize themselves into working groups to create awareness and encourage other fathers to get involved in every aspect of child development.
These "activist dads” led door-to-door sensitization on immunization, accompanied their wives and child for routine vaccinations at the local clinic, and took charge of home chores that was deemed “women’s work,” challenging the notion that childcare and well-being is a woman’s responsibility.
At first, some villagers called them "unmanly" but that soon gave way as CHPs and local chiefs joined in, lending authority and cultural sensitivity to outreach efforts. So far, the Fathers’ Club has reached more than 282 communities, directly impacting routine vaccinations in at least 3,000 households.
These stories are a reminder that vaccines don’t travel by themselves and the quest to achieve vaccine equity can’t be attained by Gavi alone. It relies on wealthy nations, organizations, partners, local leaders, global citizens, and everyday people to step up and support Gavi’s mission.
From Dr. Nchinjoh’s makeshift isle clinics in Cameroon, to Kite’s life-saving vaccine drone drops over Ethiopia; from chiefs and health promoters rebuilding trust in Nairobi to the Fathers’ Club in Benin redefining community care — every vaccine procured and delivered depends on a complex system of logistics, training, and local involvement. Their determination proves that no matter how rugged the terrain or deep the doubt, local ingenuity, and unwavering commitment can turn the tide on preventable diseases.
In order to continue its work in strengthening global health systems, Gavi raises funding during “replenishment campaigns” where it seeks financing from wealthy countries and organizations through multi-year pledges. The Alliance's next replenishment isn’t just about vaccines. It’s an investment to make sure these heroes have the tools they need to close the zero-dose gap and protect children’s futures.