In 2022, the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN), Africa Christian Health Associations Platform (ACHAP) and All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) partnered in an advocacy initiative to empower church leaders to be able educate their congregations on the importance and effectiveness of vaccinations and how to handle vaccine hesitancy.
One of the activities in the initiative was a through a virtual webinar held in March 2022 and a joint learning virtual forum that took place in January 2023. A key outcome of the first webinar in 2022 was a development and launch of a Call to Action for uptake of Covid-19 vaccinations. The call was to be used to urge, appeal and encourage key stakeholders that include religious leaders, African Governments, European Union Member States and US Government and development partners to sustain and boost Covid-19 vaccination efforts especially in the region.
Training and advocacy
Further, together with its members Mouvement Universel pour la Survie de l’Humanité (MUSUHUM) Niger, Christian Health Association of Sierra Leone (CHASL), Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) and the Communauté Baptiste du Congo in Democratic Republic of Congo, EPN engaged stakeholders from the health sector, faith-based space and government through advocacy workshops and physical trainings to share best practices of pandemic future preparedness.
Religious leaders were involved in dialogues and effective advocacy in order to prepare their congregations and communities in future pandemic preparedness with the aim of reducing vaccine hesitancy.
EPN continues the advocacy initiative through e- learning training to provide tools for equipping church health systems in future pandemic preparedness not only for Covid-19 but other pandemics.
