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The South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (SEA-RCCPE) meeting was held on 21 - 22 September 2022 to review the annual reports submitted by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPEs) and provide feedback. The specific objectives were to review country performances on maintaining their polio-free status and provide recommendations on:
- Maintaining population immunity;
- Polio surveillance;
- National risk assessments;
- Outbreak preparedness, and
- Containment of polioviruses.
Participants also reviewed the implementation status of the recommendations made at the 14th meeting of SEA-RCCPE held in 2021; and prepared an update for the GCC on the regional polio-free certification status.
Based on reports received by NCCPEs and presentations made, the commission concluded that the WHO South-East Asia Region had remained polio-free during the review period. The SEA-RCCPE expressed concern around the continued transmission of wild poliovirus Type 1 (WPV1) and outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs), especially Type 2, and considered them to be an equally important risk to the polio-free status of the Region. SEA-RCCPE emphasized that risks were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to backsliding in critical polio activities in almost all countries and some countries being unable to achieve their pre-COVID-19 level surveillance sensitivity and immunization coverage.
Acknowledging the efforts made by all countries to retain the polio-free status, SEA-RCCPE provided general recommendations applicable to the Region and country-specific recommendations to further strengthen their polio programmes.
Participants: Members of the South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication (SEA-RCCPE), chairpersons/representatives of National Certification Committees for Polio Eradication (NCCPEs), Chair of Global Certification Commission (GCC), Ministry of Health (India), donor and partner agencies, WHO HQ, AFRO, EMRO, WPRO, Country Office for India and WHO-SEARO.
Photo credits: WHO
The National Innovation System (NIS) Workshop for Francophone Countries was held in Benin from 20-23 September 2022. 130 participants from 20 WHO AFRO countries including Haiti and the Comoros islands joined the workshop, which was was supported by facilitators from WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, AMP, and JSI.
Comprehensive Multi-year plans (cMYPs) are no longer on countries’ agendas as some, like the GVAP (2011-2020) and the Regional Strategic Plan for Immunization (2014-2020) have lapsed. With the launch of a new vaccination era introduced by IA2030 and Gavi 5.0, a new reference strategy is needed from countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic and recent release of WUENIC data emphasised the need for strategic planning and prioritization to restore and expand immunization programmes. Countries’ goal now is to conduct a robust situation analysis of their current EPI programs and adopt clear orientations and priorities to be operationalized in a more predictable manner. There are already some tools available to support their NIS development efforts.
Over four days, participants - through group work and plenary sessions - were fully briefed on the whole process of NIS strategy development, with the pioneers of the exercise,: Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, sharing their experiences. An extensive of the use of NIS.COST was observed, and technical partners renewed their engagement to support countries.
A similar workshop for Anglophone countries took place in South Africa from 10-14 October 2022.
Photos: (Top) Participants. (Bottom) Ulla Griffiths from UNICEF HQ presenting on costing of NIS activities (Credit: WHO AFRO/ISTWest-H.Dadjo),
A ‘Learning Collective Initiative’ has been established under the CoVDP to provide targeted support to 34 concerted support countries. This workstream will collect, consolidate, and share lessons learned, best practices, and challenges in planning and operationalizing COVID-19 vaccination uptake. This series is primarily directed at national authorities who are responsible for managing or making key decisions on the deployment, implementation and monitoring of COVID-19 vaccines. The secondary target audience includes partners in the one country team who can provide desired technical support.
This 6-session Learning Collective Initiative series will be hosted in partnership with Project ECHO. Each session will be 90 minutes featuring a brief didactic presentation and two countries presenting their learnings from the COVID -19 vaccination with focused thematic areas on the best practices and challenges. Details on the topic and the presenters will be sent 1 week prior to each session.
Session 4 – September 20, 2022 - Learnings from One Plan / One Budget Development
Register here: https://echo.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAqc-uopjoiHdOUcl4uNzIPxxpgoFwQMG4B
Learn from Dr. Amy Lo Ndiaye, Vaccine Logistics Manager at EPI Senegal Ministry of Health, as she shares Senegal's experience working with Parsyl to implement innovative vaccine management solutions to strengthen Senegal's health infrastructure and advance Senegal's in-country supply chain.
Session in French interpreted into English
Register here: https://who.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_urZe8OxRQ6CyJwy7mLlbUA