Bogotá, August 2026. Nearly 2,200 Afro-Colombian and Indigenous residents of Medio Baudó, in Colombia’s Chocó department, could benefit from improved access to immunization services through the construction of a new vaccination site in Boca de Pepé. The initiative aims to increase protection against vaccine-preventable diseases in an area where geographic isolation and limited access to health care remain significant challenges.
Located along the Pepé River and accessible by boat from Puerto Meluk, Boca de Pepé serves as a strategic location for communities across the Pepé, Misará, Querá, Pegadó, Caimital, Babeiba, and Orochocó river basins. However, geographic barriers, logistical constraints, and intermittent health services have historically limited timely access to vaccination and the ability to maintain proper vaccine storage conditions.
According to Colombia’s Ministry of Health and Social Protection, these challenges, combined with persistent gaps in vaccination coverage, increase the risk of a growing number of people remaining susceptible to infection and of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
To address these challenges, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is supporting the construction of a vaccination site equipped to maintain proper vaccine storage conditions and expand access to immunization services in the area. The initiative is part of the Life-Saving Health Response to Emerging and Re-emerging Disease Outbreaks, Violence and Weather-related Emergencies in Colombia project, funded by the Colombia Humanitarian Fund.
The initiative is being carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Chocó Departmental Health Secretariat, the Medio Baudó Municipal Secretariat of Health and Education, health care provider IPS Servisalud, and the Boca de Pepé Community Council.
As part of the planning process, representatives from the participating institutions conducted a joint technical visit to Boca de Pepé to identify the requirements for implementing the project. The visit included identifying a suitable construction site, reviewing preliminary designs, defining technical and equipment requirements, and coordinating with the construction contractor.
Once operational, the vaccination site is expected to provide more consistent and timely immunization services, reducing barriers to access for communities including San José de Querá, La Aurora, Ogodó, Unión Misará, Calle Manza, Sivirá, Pegadó, Caimital, Purricha, Antadó, Retoño, Santa Cecilia, Villa Nueva, Agua Clara, Santo Taparal, Puerto Libre, Puerto Limón, Naranjal, and Trapiche, among other communities in Medio Baudó.
The initiative will help bring essential health services closer to communities that have long faced geographic and logistical barriers to care, supporting the prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases and improving the local health system’s ability to respond to public health threats.
