The Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization (UNEPI) is a national program that mainly targets infants and women of childbearing age. Immunization is among the most successful and cost effective public health interventions in preventing a child from dying before celebrating his or her first birthday. It is a priority intervention within Uganda’s minimum health care package, which directly contributes to the Ministry of Health vision and goal.
The program offers the following services;
1.Routine Immunization services which are provided through static (health facilities), outreaches services (strategic community based monthly post).
2.Supplemental Immunization Activities (SIAs) which are organized periodically to interrupt the transmission and spread of diseases like measles or polio eradication and MNT elimination.
3.Accelerated routine immunization
4.Surveillance and Outbreak response
It's Vision: To ensure that the Ugandan population is free of vaccine-preventable diseases
It's Mission: To contribute to the overall objective of the Health Sector Strategic Plan in reducing morbidity, mortality and disability due to vaccine preventable diseases, so that they are no longer of public health importance
The Goal : To ensure that every child and high-risk group is fully vaccinated with high quality and effective vaccines against the target diseases according to recommended strategies
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
To increase access and demand for immunization services
To ensure availability of potent and effective vaccines
To build EPI management capacity at all levels
To monitor disease trends and programme performance
To formulate policy, standards and guidelines
The program deals with the following diseases and respective vaccines
1. Tuberculosis – BCG
2. Poliomyelitis – OPV/IPV
3. Whooping cough – Pertussis (DPT-HepB -Hib)
4. Diphtheris – (DPT-HepB- Hib)
5. Tetanus – Tetanus (DPT-HepB –Hib)
6. Measles – Measles Vaccine
7. Neonatal Tetanus – Tetanus Toxoid (for WCBA)
8. Hepatitis B infection – Hepatitis B (DPT-HepB -Hib)
9. H. Influenzae infection – Hib(DPT -HepB -Hib)
10. Cancer of cervix – HPV vaccine
11. Pneumococcal infections – Pneumococcal Conjugat Vaccine
