{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T06:18:39Z","timestamp":1780467519558,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773187200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vaccines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: At the end of each year, stakeholders of the Essential Immunization Programme (EPI) in the DR Congo meet to review progress made and lessons learned from the implementation of the Annual Operational Plan (AOP) and to set priorities for the following year. This paper presents a conference report that summarizes the main outcomes of the 2025 annual review meeting, which took place from 15 to 20 December 2025, and attracted 76 participants. Conference takeaways: While the 2024 WUENIC data show that the DR Congo is off-track for the 2030 Immunization agenda targets for all antigens, the administrative coverages were reported as optimal in 2025. EPI activities are planned based on administrative coverages, likely overestimated. In 2025, 47% of health zones in North-Kivu, South-Kivu and Ituri (49 out of 104) were fully or partially controlled by armed groups, leading to partial disruptions of immunization service delivery. In 2025, the DR Congo successfully launched the measles\u2013rubella vaccine introduction preceded by a catch-up vaccination campaign in children aged from 6 months to 14 years old and continued to roll out malaria vaccines using a phased approach. Conclusions: Learning from the implementation of the 2025 AOP, the EPI stakeholders adopted a set of priority actions for the immunization programme in 2026.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines14030257","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T10:43:27Z","timestamp":1773225807000},"page":"257","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Conference Report on the 2025 Annual Review of the Essential Programme on Immunization in DR Congo: Dealing with Complexity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Audry","family":"Mulumba","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Essential Immunization Programme, Ministry of Health, Kinshasa M7MG+2X8, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9062-5084","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Franck","family":"Mboussou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"World Health Organization, Democratic Republic of Congo Country Office, Kinshasa 01206, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pablito","family":"Nasaka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Essential Immunization Programme, Ministry of Health, Kinshasa M7MG+2X8, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Augustin Milabyo","family":"Byamwitenga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Essential Immunization Programme, Ministry of Health, Kinshasa M7MG+2X8, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aim\u00e9","family":"Cikomola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"World Health Organization, Democratic Republic of Congo Country Office, Kinshasa 01206, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cyril","family":"Nogier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gavi Secretariat, 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas Noel","family":"Gaha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UNICEF, Democratic Republic of Congo Country Office, Kinshasa M7H9+HQW, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mymy","family":"Mwika","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Essential Immunization Programme, Ministry of Health, Kinshasa M7MG+2X8, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Benedict Taa","family":"Nguimbis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"World Health Organization, Democratic Republic of Congo Country Office, Kinshasa 01206, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5463-0858","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bridget","family":"Farham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville P.O. Box 06, Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anne","family":"Ancia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"World Health Organization, Democratic Republic of Congo Country Office, Kinshasa 01206, Democratic Republic of the Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Benido","family":"Impouma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville P.O. Box 06, Congo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101489","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nmni.2024.101489","article-title":"Re-emergence of vaccine-derived polio in the demographic Republic of Congo: Causes and consequences","volume":"62","author":"Oduoye","year":"2024","journal-title":"New Microbes New Infect."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"United Nations Population Division (2026, January 31). World Population Prospects 2024. Available online: https:\/\/population.un.org\/wpp\/."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (2026, January 31). Focusing on \u2018High Impact\u2019 Countries Brings a Local Lens to National Immunisation Programmes. 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