Annual Partners Meeting - Updates from Brasilia

3rd EYE Annual Partners Meeting: Global community working for yellow fever control

More than 130 participants from 16 countries, three WHO regions and a multitude of partners joined in Brasilia, Brazil for the EYE Annual Partners Meeting hosted by PAHO. This year's meeting was a unique and rich opportunity for sharing countries experiences  to better understand and control yellow fever risk. Topics included EYE implementation progress and challenges, global yellow fever epidemiological updates and risk assessments, including perspectives on surveillance enhancements (e.g., entomo-virological  and viral genomic), clinical management, and vaccine supply situation and forecast.

Participants benefited from presentations on the wealth of experience and innovation undertaken to manage the recent yellow fever outbreaks in Brazil. These included updates on the approach to assess risk, vaccination responses and clinical management experience. Extensive updates on yellow fever surveillance, risk, laboratories and vaccination were shared from a strong representation of high risk countries in Africa and the Americas.  

Since inception of the EYE Strategy, more than 134 million people are estimated to have received yellow fever vaccination in Africa, global vaccine supply has increased and is more stable, and there has been strengthened capacity of laboratories including streamlined international sample transportation.  EYE will continue to further increase impact. Ongoing activities include work to harmonize approaches to quantify risk, engagement with diagnostic manufacturers to develop improved diagnostics for yellow fever, and updates for clinical management informed by learning from Brazil.

The EYE Strategy is moving forward into the next phase of implementation and commitment was solidified through the engagement of countries, partners and regions at the meeting. The next priorities include:

• Implement keys for success: country ownership, enhanced collaboration with countries twinning, and more partners’ on-the-ground support.
• Advance technical themes: surveillance, clinical management, and the limitation of yellow fever exportation from endemic areas.
• Accelerate EYE implementation: long-term approach with increased vaccine forecast accuracy and advanced planning for the preventive mass campaign, stronger contingency planning at regional and global level and coordination for vaccine access, and operationalize simple measures to improve routine immunization in high-risk areas that would be scaled-up once proven effective.