Congo Democratic Republic of the news and features

The twofold objective of Dr Berkley’s visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo was to gain a better understanding of what drives increases in immunisation coverage in a large fragile country and to advise on the scaling-up of pneumococcal vaccines. Meetings with various partners, including government ministers, UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and DR Congo’s vibrant civil society allowed vigorous discussion of how best to provide financial sustainability for immunisation.

Addressing a gathering of global leaders on child and maternal health, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton describes the child mortality gap between rich and poor countries as "shocking".

In an effort to drastically improve the chances of children reaching their fifth birthday, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today stepped up its immunization programme by including vaccines to combat pneumonia.

On 4 April the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) joined the set of six countries that use the new vaccine against pneumococcus to protect their children.

GAVI Alliance donors and partners agreed to convene a first pledging conference in June 2011 to ensure that the global health partnership has the necessary funding to introduce new vaccines against the two biggest killers of children, pneumonia and diarrhoea.