Global Immunization News, May 2012
pdf – http://www.who.int/entity/immunization/GIN_May_2012.pdf

Included in this issue:

GLOBAL MEETING ON IMPLEMENTING NEW AND UNDER-UTILIZED VACCINES
31/05/2012 from Hemanthi Dassanayake and Carsten Mantel, WHO HQ

The sixth WHO Global Meeting on Implementing New and Under-utilized Vaccines was held in Marrakesh, Morocco from 15-17 May 2012 with 116 participants including representatives from Ministries of Health from 12 countries, WHO and UNICEF Headquarters, Regional and Country Offices, partner agencies including Agence de Médecine Préventive, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, US CDC, Clinton Health Access Initiative, GAVI Secretariat, MCHIPJSI, Project Optimize, PATH, Sabin Institute and USAID, as well as participants from four universities, two NGOs, eight vaccine manufacturers, and three independent consultants.

The objectives of the meeting were to review and discuss among global, regional and country immunization partners, key issues related to the introduction of new and under-utilized vaccines, and to review progress in the implementation of the Global Plan of Action for New and Under-Utilized Vaccines Implementation . The meeting had plenary sessions to review lessons learned with the introduction of pneumococcal, rotavirus and Meningococcal A conjugate vaccines, and hosted seven workgroup sessions on the following areas: Pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines – experiences with implementation; Immunization programme planning and monitoring; New vaccines, immunization and health systems strengthening; Supply chain and logistics; Country preparedness for delivery of Human Papilloma Virus vaccines; Assessing the disease impact of new and underutilized vaccines; and strategies for middle-income and GAVI graduating countries.

The meeting evaluation by participants showed that most attended in order to receive updates on the subject matter and to discuss key issues related to NUVI, to share information with countries and partners and to informally interact and network. The workshop character of the meeting, the mix of people and professions and the variety of topics was highly appreciated.

Some key issues to be taken forward from the meeting are the following: Communication around loosening of rotavirus vaccine age restrictions; Improved capacity for economic evaluation through the PROVAC initiative; Support to middle income countries, development of a DoV GVAP companion paper; the revision of the comprehensive multiyear planning process and guidance; Support to health systems now targeting immunization goals; real-time monitoring of supply chain performance and professionalization of supply management; Use of a comprehensive cervical cancer prevention and control costing tool for decision-making on HPV vaccine introduction; and the need for special studies on nasopharyngeal carriage and pneumonia end points when assessing the impact of pneumococcal and Hib vaccines.

Full report to be posted here: http://www.who.int/nuvi/global_meetings/en/index.html