Global Studies Africa Textbook: An Open Global Historical Studies Textbook Main Menu East African Politics, Modern History, and International Relations Authors: Anna Bradley, Georgia Coffman, Madyson Duby, Danny Kovalak Art and Culture in East Africa Modern History of Western Africa Introduction for the Modern History of Western Africa chapter Arts and Culture in Western Africa Arts and Culture in Western Africa Chapter Introduction Medicine and Health in West Africa West African Natural Resources A brief summary of West African natural resources Natural Resources in Central Africa Natural Resources in Central Africa Art and Culture of Central Africa Arts and Culture in North Central Africa Economics and Infrastructure in the South African Region Healthcare in Southern Africa Author Credits

Vaccinations

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Vaccination has been an essential tool to reducing mortality from infectious diseases. It works as a primary prevention from infection and it is a cost-effective method to improving public health. While vaccination is helpful as a method to assist in preventing diseases, it is necessary that there are a certain amount of individuals who are receiving these vaccines. If the amount of vaccination does not have enough coverage, it will not be as effective. Providing the amount of coverage needed to protect the public in West Africa has been an important public health issue.

Global improvements for childhood vaccination have increased the amount of children who received the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3) by a year increased from 5% in 1974 to 86% in 2015. However, West Africa still has regional differences, only having 69% coverage with Central Africa compared to 79% in East and South Africa. Additionally, vaccination is widely varied in the countries of West Africa (Kazungu & Adetifa, 2017). This issue of variation in immunization coverage is correlated with the healthcare systems present in these countries as well as the equity gap. These systems have a weak healthcare structure that stems from a lack of financing and planning for immunizations in the context of the whole country (Wariri et al., 2019). In order for these countries to improve upon the coverage of vaccination, it is necessary that there is a change in the structure of their healthcare systems.