Okonjo-Iweala urges Africa to invest in vaccinations as gateway to health and prosperity

The African Development Week continued in Addis Ababa Monday with former Nigerian finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, now chairperson of the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, urging African governments to invest massively in immunization programmes saying prevention is cheaper than cure. Presenting a paper at ninth joint annual meetings of the African Union specialized technical committee and finance, monetary affairs, economic planning and integration and Economic Commission for Africa conference of African ministers of finance, planning and economic development, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said governments need to include immunization in their annual budgets.