News In this issue

News

WHO and partners launched measles

vaccination in the CAR

Bangladesh to conduct measles-rubella

campaign and 21st NIDs

Liberia begins protecting its children against pneumococcal disease

Evaluation of antibody persistence in the population after mass vaccination with MenAfriVacTM in Burkina Faso

WHO SAGE on immunization: Request

for nominations

WHO looking for internat. consultants

TechNet-21 launches collaboration

with public health supply chain communities

2

2

2 3

3

4

5

Meetings / workshops

Second Meeting in 2013 of the Regional

Working Group on Immunization

Training course on public vaccine pro-

curement

Regional Workshop on EPI Planning and Programme Costing using the COSTVAC Method and Tool

GIS and Geospatial Analysis for Polio Eradication

2nd Polio lab network training work-

shop to implement the Real-time PCR Techniques for Rapid Detection and Characterization of Polioviruses

Sixth Meeting of the South-East Asia

Regional Commission for Certification

of Polio Eradication (SEA-RCCPE)

WHO and UNICEF working group on monitoring national immunization cov-erage development session

6

7 7

8

9

10

11

Upcoming Meetings 11

Resources 12

Calendar 13-

14

Links 15

Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination (MNTE) progress as

of December 2013 Rownak Khan, Azhar Abid Raza, Flint Zulu, UNICEF New York, and Ahmadu Yakubu,

WHO Geneva

As of end December 2013, 34 countries out of 59 at high risk of Maternal and Neonatal

Tetanus (MNT), achieved MNT elimination. Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR)

was the latest addition to the list after passing the validation survey in December 2013.

Globally, an estimated 120 million women of reproductive age were reached with at least

two doses of tetanus-containing vaccine since the programme was re-launched in 1999.

This achievement was made possible through the commitment of national governments;

the technical and financial support of partners: WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, The US Center

for Disease Control (CDC), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Becton, Dickinson and

Company (BD), Save the Children - USA, Procter and Gamble (P&G) - Pampers, GAVI,

Government of Japan, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Kiwanis International and Na-

tional Committees for UNICEF.

Map of the 34 countries which eliminated MNT between 2000 & December 2013 as at January

2014

Madagascar is the next country ready for the validation survey in 2014. Cambodia, the

Philippines and four states in India will conduct pre-validation assessments in 2014. Mo-

mentum to reach the goal of elimination by 2015 in the remaining 25 countries using the

high risk approach continues. However, achieving the goal of elimination is only possible

with continued government commitment and timely availability of funds from the part-

nership.

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

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Page 2

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

WHO and partners launched measles vaccination in the Central African Republic Hayatee Hasan, WHO HQ

Following the confirmation by the Bangui Pasteur Institute of cases of

measles in two camps for displaced persons – near Bangui airport

(three cases) and at the Don Bosco Centre in Damala (five cases) -

WHO, UNICEF, MSF and other partners are supporting an emergency

response immunization campaign to control this epidemic which began

on 3 January 2014.

More than 60 000 children aged between six months and 15 years are

covered by the immunization activities, 40 000 at the airport camp and

more than 20 000 at the other affected site, the Don Bosco Centre at

Damala.

Bangladesh to conduct measles-rubella campaign and 21st National Immunization

Days (NIDs) Zainul Abedin Khan, WHO-SEARO

The Government of Bangladesh has decided to conduct a nationwide campaign against measles and rubella (MR)

targeting 52 million children from nine months to under 15 years of age. Each of the children will be vaccinated

with one dose of MR vaccine irrespective of their previous vaccination status. The mass vaccination is expected to

have an impact to eliminate measles and control rubella by 2016.

Aside from the MR campaign, the government has also decided to conduct the 21st National Immunization Days

(NIDs) to sustain the polio free status maintained by the country since 2006. A total of 22 million children from

zero to 59 months will be vaccinated with two drops of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) irrespective of their previous

vaccination status.

Once the MR campaign is conducted, Bangladesh would have implemented all recommended immunization strate-

gies for measles elimination and rubella control. Bangladesh has a good surveillance system to monitor the pro-

gress towards achieving MR elimination.

More information at this link.

Liberia begins protecting its children against pneumococcal disease Hayatee Hasan, WHO HQ

Children across Liberia are now receiving protection against one of

the leading vaccine-preventable killers of children as the country today

celebrates the introduction of pneumococcal vaccine (PCV).

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was joined at the launch event,

held at the JFK Medical Center in Monrovia, by representatives of the

GAVI Alliance who provides the vaccines, cabinet ministers and senior

politicians, representatives of the diplomatic corps, UNICEF, WHO,

health workers, parents and babies.

In 2014, the pneumonia vaccine will reach about 90% of children under

one year old in Liberia (about 140,000 children), according to the Min-

istry of Health and Social Welfare. The pneumococcal vaccine will be a

part of the national routine immunization programme.

Read the news release on pneumococcal vaccine rollout in Liberia

Emergency response immunization campaign

at the airport camp for displaced persons.

Mother taking under one year old daughter

to receive PCV vaccine during the official

launch on 9 January 2014

Page 3

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

Evaluation of antibody persistence in the population after mass vaccination with

MenAfriVacTM in Burkina Faso: AMP, EHESP and Centre Muraz implemented the 2nd

survey from November to December 2013 Catherine Martin, Agence de Médecine Préventive, Judith Mueller (EHESP)

The project is a series of three surveys to evaluate the persistence of se-

roprevalence against group A meningococci in the general population of

Burkina Faso, following the introduction of a conjugate vaccine against

meningococcal serogroup A (MenAfriVacTM) . The project is led by AMP

and the French School of Public Health (EHESP), in collaboration with the

Centre Muraz (Burkina Faso), the Vaccine Evaluation Unit of Public Health

England (PHE) and Cambridge University. The UK charity Meningitis Re-

search Foundation (MRF) is the sole funder of the project.

A first survey was conducted from October to November 2011, nine

months after the MenAfriVacTM mass campaign in Bobo-Dioulasso. Field

workers trained by AMP and Centre Muraz enrolled 562 participants aged

six months to 29 years at their homes. Centre Muraz then led study visits,

including blood draws by nurses and lab technicians. A poster on survey results was presented at the 2014 MRF annu-

al meeting in London.

The second survey was conducted from November to December 2013 and involved the enrollment of 600 partici-

pants using the same procedures. Serum bactericidal antibody titers and serum IgG antibody concentrations, now

being analyzed at the PHE laboratory, will enable a description of population immunity following vaccine introduction

in the Bobo-Dioulasso area.

The third and last survey is scheduled for November to December 2015.

The results from this project will help determine an optimal interval for repeat mass vaccine campaigns with MenAfri-

VacTM in the African meningitis belt.

WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization: Request for

nominations Philippe Duclos, WHO HQ

WHO is soliciting proposals for nominations for current vacancies on its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts

(SAGE) on immunization. Nominations should be submitted no later than 7 May 2014. In view of the current SAGE

membership, nominations are solicited for experts from the African, American, Eastern Mediterranean, South East

Asian, and Western Pacific regions. Nominations will then be carefully reviewed by the SAGE membership selec-

tion panel, which will propose the selection of nominees to the WHO Director-General for appointment.

SAGE is the principal advisory group to WHO for vaccines and immunization. SAGE reports directly to the Director-

General and advises WHO on overall global policies and strategies, ranging from vaccine and technology research

and development, to delivery of immunization and its linkages with other health interventions. Its remit extends to all

vaccine-preventable diseases as well as to all age groups. Please see this link for further information.

Members are acknowledged experts with an outstanding record of achievement in their own field and an understand-

ing of the immunization issues covered by the group. Consideration is given to ensuring appropriate geographic rep-

resentation and gender balance.

Instructions for nominations are available at the following link.

Illustration of a blood draw conducted

during the second survey. Credit: ©Judith

Mueller

Page 4

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

WHO looking for international consultants Alya Dabbagh, WHO HQ

Candidates would be recruited as consultants for WHO to provide technical guidance and support the implemen-

tation by national authorities of supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) for measles or measles-rubella (MR),

and to strengthen the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI ) and effective disease surveillance. The provi-

sion of technical guidance and support is to assure high quality measles and MR SIAs through supporting all phases

including planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Suitable candidates will be included in a consultan-

cy roster and contacted whenever an assistance request from a WHO Country or Regional Office is received.

Summary of common technical assistance requests:

Assist national programmes with the planning, implementation and supervision of SIAs

Assist with post SIA coverage evaluation

Assist countries with GAVI applications for measles and rubella introductions

Assist countries to support better use of coverage and surveillance data at all levels, increase coverage levels

and otherwise improve programme performance.

Cooperate with WHO staff and National EPI managers in organizing local training and providing technical assis-

tance in planning, monitoring and reporting programme activities.

Duration of contracts: 6 weeks to 6 months.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

University degree in Medicine, Health, Engineering, Science or Business Administration, plus an advanced universi-

ty degree in public health or related field. A first level university degree with a relevant combination of profession-

al training and/or self-study and relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Skills:

Technical expertise in capacity building in public health and disease control. Good knowledge of vaccine prevent-

able diseases and medical epidemiology. Ability to work effectively with colleagues and partners at national and

international levels. Strong skills in budgeting, contracting, and managing projects. Strong writing skills would be an

asset.

Experience:

At least three years of experience in public health programmes in areas related to immunization, including experi-

ence at international level and working in developing countries.

At least three years’ experience in the planning (micro planning, logistics, budgeting), monitoring and evaluation of

SIAs with injectable vaccines.

Experience with post SIA coverage survey implementation would be an asset.

Languages:

Excellent working knowledge of English or French. Knowledge of Arabic and Portuguese would be an asset.

Language required will depend upon the duty station.

Interested candidates should contact Dr Alya Dabbagh.

Page 5

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

TechNet-21 launches collaboration with public health supply chain communities Patrick Lydon, WHO HQ

TechNet-21, the global network of immunization

professionals, is working with key partners to

explore ways in which public health supply chain

communities can be better inter-connected. The

vision behind the collaboration is to link these

communities more closely, and doing so by im-

proving overall access to information and re-

sources.

Why is TechNet engaged in this? Various organi-

zations and initiatives seek to serve particular

communities of practice related to public health

supply chains. Each community tends to be a ver-

tical silo of information and knowledge, accessible

through a specific website. As a result, the broad-

er global health supply chain community has no

single "go-to" point for information, and must

instead navigate a multiplicity of online resources.

An initiative to address this problem is now un-

derway, intended to link the various communities of practice, while maintaining the individual identity and purpose of

each community. Organizations and initiatives involved in the collaboration include the International Association of

Public Health Logisticians (IAPHL), People that Deliver (PtD), United Nations Population Fund, (UNFPA Supply

Chain), LOGIVAC, Procurement and Supply Management (PSM) Toolbox, and UNICEF’s Cold Chain and Logistics

Taskforce (CCL TF).

As part of the collaboration, a moderated discussion on the integration of oxytocin in the vaccine cold chain was

launched on the IAPHL website as a follow-up to the one that was launched earlier in 2013 on the TechNet. While

discussions on the integration of oxytocin have been taking place on the TechNet forum for some time, by widening

the conversation to include IAPHL members, we hope to ensure that public health supply chain communities outside

of immunization are involved in this important debate. We also hope that this cross-posting will help to better con-

nect members of the two communities. You can view the moderated discussion on the IAPHL listserv.

TechNet’s collaboration with other public health supply chain communities will continue throughout 2014. We hope

that through working together in this way, we can connect different communities more closely and by doing so im-

prove overall access to information and resources.

The goal of TechNet is to strengthen immunization services by sharing experiences, coordinating activities, and help-

ing to formulate optimal policies. Visit the TechNet-21.org website today.

Page 6

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

Meetings / workshops

Second Meeting in 2013 of the Regional Working Group on Immunization

Crépin Hilaire DADJO, WHO IST West Africa

Location: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Date: 16-17 December 2013

Participants: Twenty-four participants representing six agen-

cies including GAVI, Maternal and Child Health

Integrated Programme, SABIN Institute, Agence

de Médecine Préventive, UNICEF and WHO

(AFRO; Intercountry Support team (IST) West

Africa and IST Central Africa)

Purpose: To update vaccination stakeholders on the pro-

gress being made in West and Central Africa in

2013 and set priorities for joint interventions in

2014.

Group Photo of Attendants of the 2nd Meeting of

the WGI_Credit Photo R. BARRY

Details: From the 14 presentations made over the two-day workshop, participants were updated on na-

tional EPI performances in the sub region, the surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases

(Measles, Yellow Fever, Meningitis and Tetanus Toxoid) and the introduction of the Measles sec-

ond dose and Rubella vaccines. As a follow-up to the recommendations taken during the first

meeting held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (28-29 April 2013), it was learnt that the

study on the financing of the vaccination system in three countries (Burkina, Mali and Sierra Leone)

is still ongoing; an investigation on the norms and existing national vaccination policies was con-

cluded and showed a great variability of the implementation of the “legislation” in this area. Partners including GAVI Alliance, AMP and SABIN Institute seized the opportunity of the meeting

to update participants on their activities. The latest decisions taken for vaccines applications in-

cluding the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) introduction were communicated. A table of joint prior-

ities will be circulated shortly and approved before end 2014. Dates and venue of the next meeting

will be communicated as well once agreed. The opening and closing of the meeting were both

chaired by Dr Oladapo Walker, WHO/IST West Coordinator on behalf of the Regional Director

for WHO in Africa (Dr Luis Sambo).

Page 7

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

Training course on public vaccine procurement

Oya Zeren Afsar, UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS

Location: Kiev, Ukraine

Date: 2-5 December 2013

Participants: Government focal points from the areas of vaccine procurement, financing and regulations including

the focal points who attended in a similar sub-regional workshop organized by WHO/EURO in No-

vember 2013.

Purpose: To strengthen the current national vaccine procurement system to avoid shortage of routine vac-

cines.

Details: Ukraine is a middle-income, self- procuring country planning to continue to conduct its own vaccine

procurement in the future. Due to the weaknesses and inefficiencies in the current national vaccine

procurement system, the country has been experiencing a shortage of routine vaccines which contrib-

utes to the low immunization coverage rates.

The training course was tailor-made, with the following modules prioritized by the participants on the

first day based on their needs: Global vaccine market; European Union and UN procurement direc-

tives; quality management; risk management; dual sourcing; procurement strategy development; pro-

curement methods; bid evaluation; supplier performance evaluation; invitation to bid; specification;

and packaging, delivery, receipt and payment.

Further work on finalizing the draft action plan to strengthen the vaccine procurement system, was

deferred until the return of political stability in the country.

This activity is a follow-up to the in-depth vaccine procurement country assessment conducted by

UNICEF in December 2012 (cf GIN February 2013 page 5). UNICEF and WHO continue to imple-

ment a joint strategy to ensure government commitment and capacity building in order to restore the

routine immunization programme in Ukraine.

Regional Workshop on EPI Planning and Programme Costing using the COSTVAC

Method and Tool

G. Felix, C. Janusz, B. Jauregui, H. Kurtis, M. Velandia, Pan American Health Organization, Washington DC, USA

Location: Cancun, Mexico

Date: 8-9 December 2013

Participants: The EPI Managers and Administrators from 20 countries in the Region, international PAHO/WHO

experts and collaborators of PAHO’s ProVac initiative.

Purpose: 1) Present PAHO’s proposal to use a common and shared framework for EPI planning (Plan of Ac-

tion), reporting (JRF, GAVI) and EPI costing; 2) Discuss the new COSTVAC tool and methodology for

EPI costing; 3) Discuss the potential uses of COSTVAC for annual and multiyear planning; and 4) Doc-

ument lessons learned from current country-level EPI planning, including challenges and opportunities

for improvement.

Details: PAHO presented the COSTVAC tool and methodology for EPI costing. The aim of this tool is to gen-

erate more precise EPI cost data to inform programme budgeting and planning. Participants had the

opportunity to familiarize themselves with the tool and to learn more about the differences and uses

of economic and financial costs. Participants also compared the EPI budget and the budget execution

for 2013 and discussed the possible reasons for discrepancies, in order to raise awareness and im-

prove future planning and budgeting. A revised EPI Plan of Action template (Excel matrix) with twelve

technical components was also presented. Inconsistencies between the components used in EPI plan-

ning and other technical tools are common in the Region and efforts are being made to establish

standardized definitions across reporting and planning tools. Participants shared their experiences

with EPI planning, and gave feedback regarding the matrix and the tools presented.

Country feedback from the meeting will be used in the next revision of COSTVAC and to finalize the

EPI Plan of Action template in early 2014.

Page 8

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Geospatial Analysis for Polio

Eradication

Victoria Gammino and Abigail Greenleaf, CDC

Location: Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia

Date: 4-13 December,

2013

Participants: Over 30 participants

from Addis Ababa

University, Ethiopian

Public Health Asso-

ciation, WHO, and

the Ministry of

Health’s Public

Health Emergency

Management

(PHEM) branch, and

Regional Health

Bureaus participat-

ed.

Students working with Arc GIS to develop polio microplans (left) and a geo-

referenced hand-drawn map (right).

Purpose: The training was the most recent in a series of courses on the role of GIS in polio eradication,

demonstrating how GIS can be applied to public health challenges such as the recent polio out-

break in Ethiopia.

Details: During the four-day training, participants were taught to use Arc-GIS and Google Earth software

tools to prepare polio microplans, plot and visualize Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) case surveillance

data, and to characterize the movements of nomadic and other mobile populations. Previous

courses in Burkina Faso (2011) and Kenya (2012) have been crafted around country-specific needs

and objectives related to polio eradication. Participants were also encouraged to bring in their own

datasets to hone their GIS skills. These datasets included measles outbreak data, an HIV

Knowledge, Attitude, Behaviour (KAP) survey, and malaria morbidity data. The training was led by Randall Young from CDC-Atlanta Geospatial Research, Analysis & Services

Programme. Facilitators included Dr Victoria Gammino from the CDC Global Immunization Divi-

sion’s Polio Emergency Response Team, Dr Getahun Aynalem and Ms Abigail Greenleaf, MPH from

the CDC- Ethiopia Field Epidemiology Training (FETP).

Page 9

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

Second Polio laboratory network training workshop to implement the Real-time

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Techniques for Rapid Detection and

Characterization of Polioviruses

Youngmee Jee, WHO Western Pacific Regional Office

Location: Beijing, China

Date: 13-17 January 2014

Participants: Ten participants representing eight China provincial

laboratories (Chongqing, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei,

Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Ningxia and Qinghai) and

two national polio laboratories (Malaysia and Mon-

golia) were trained. There were also 20 observers

from 16 provincial laboratories and four from Chi-

na CDC. Laboratory experts from Victorian Infec-

tious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Melbourne

(WHO regional reference laboratory for poliomye-

litis) and WHO Regional Office for the Western

Pacific (WPRO) as facilitators.

Purpose: To improve the poliovirus real-time intratypic dif-

ferentiation (ITD) technique of laboratory staff in

China, Malaysia and Mongolia and to introduce the

standard operating procedure of new algorithm for

poliovirus detection in polio laboratory network in

the Western Pacific Region (WPR).

Group photo from the workshop. Credit: Dr

Youngmee Jee/WHO.

Details: WPR is making efforts to reduce the time to identify polioviruses by introducing real-time polymer-

ase chain reaction (PCR) for polio ITD and vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) screening among polio

network laboratories including provincial laboratories in China. In March 2012 (cf GIN March 2012

p. 16), 23 China provincial laboratories were trained on real-time PCR for polio ITD and VDPV

screening and 22 provincial laboratories successfully implemented the real time PCR techniques by

January 2013. The objectives of the workshop were achieved through intensive hands-on practical sessions and

lectures. During the workshop, implementation steps were discussed and it is expected that these

laboratories will conduct real-time PCR for polio ITD and VDPV screening and after successful com-

pletion of implementation steps including proficiency tests. After the successful implementation of

ITD, those laboratories will be upgraded to polio ITD laboratories and will be assessed for ITD func-

tion during the WHO annual accreditation visits.

Page 10

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

Sixth Meeting of the South-East Asia Regional Commission for Certification of

Polio Eradication (SEA-RCCPE)

Zainul Abedin Khan, WHO-SEARO

Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

Date: 25-27 November 2013

Participants: All members of the SEA-RCCPE, members of

the National Certification Committee for Polio

Eradication (NCCPE) from the Democratic

Republic of Korea (DPRK), India and Timor-

Leste (TLS), Polio focal points from WHO

Western Pacific Region, WHO African Region,

WHO-Headquarters and WHO SEARO sec-

retariat.

Purpose: Polio eradication is a programmatic emergency

for the global public health community and

continues to be a high priority in the South-

East Asia Region. The SEA Region has been

maintaining its polio free status for the last 34

months since reporting its last wild polio case

from India on 13 January 2011. The Region is

firmly on track for polio free certification in

early 2014. To ensure all requirements for

certification of polio eradication are met by

the Member States, the sixth meeting of the

South-East Asia Regional Commission for Cer-

tification of Polio Eradication (SEA- RCCPE)

was conducted.

Group photo from the SEA-RCCPE

Details: The NCCPEs of DPRK, India and Timor-Leste presented their annual updates on the national doc-

umentations for certification of polio eradication and progress made to date. The NCCPEs from

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand were not present

for this meeting but their updated reports were reviewed by the commission. Although the mem-

ber countries have been maintaining the required level of quality performance at the national level,

some of the sub-national areas are having sub-optimal quality. Indonesia, Myanmar and Timor-Leste

are considered as high risk for polio importation based on the programme performance indicators

at sub-national levels. The Regional Commission for Certification noted the efforts of all the eleven

member states of the SEA Region towards maintaining high quality polio eradication activities, de-

spite a number of resources, operational and political challenges. Overall, all country programmes

continue to identify challenges and provide innovative solutions. The RCCPE concluded that all

countries of the SEA region are capable of detecting polio viruses (Wild polio viruses (WPVs) and

vaccine-derived Polio viruses (VDPVs) ) and that there is no circulating WPV as of November

2013.

Page 11

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

WHO and UNICEF working group on monitoring national immunization coverage

development session

Xavier BOSCH-CAPBLANCH, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute

Location: Basel, Switzerland

Date: 12-14 November 2013

Participants: United Nations Children’s’ Fund, World Health Organization,

Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.

Purpose: To review the feasibility of incorporating an approach devel-

oped by the Swiss TPH to analyze vaccination data from more

than 200 household surveys and to explore modifications to

measures of uncertainty attached to the group's estimates of

national immunization coverage estimates.

Group photo from the WHO and

UNICEF working group on monitor-

ing national immunization coverage

development session

Details: The Swiss TPH has produced an ensemble of STATA programmes to harmonize variable names and

values from multiple surveys which facilitates processing surveys of different types in order to com-

pute vaccination coverage and other indicators.

Confidence in the WHO and UNICEF estimates of national immunization coverage is currently ex-

pressed in terms of the availability and consistency of empirical data from a variety of sources and

there is no ranking or weighting based on the quality of the data. The group explored ways of assign-

ing confidence to different reports of coverage, the impact on confidence of different estimation rules

and the propagation of uncertainty exhibited by the data in arriving at a confidence in the final esti-

mates. Proposed methods were reviewed and preliminary results considered. The development of

these methods continues and the methods are expected to be reflected in the 2014 revision of the

coverage estimates.

Upcoming Meetings

Next-Generation Vaccine Delivery Technology Meeting, 18-19 February 2014,

Geneva, Switzerland

The main objectives of the meeting are to : Review lessons learned of earlier experiences with new vaccine technologies and generate a landscape of existing

and future technologies, including delivery devices, packaging, and vaccine formulation.

Provide a vision for the future of vaccine delivery technologies with short-term (within the Decade of Vaccines

timeline) and long-term objectives (beyond 2020).

Arrive at a consensus on the types of vaccine delivery products and technologies needed for immunization pro-

grammes in 10 to 20 years from now.

Provide recommendations and strategic direction to incentivize industry investments in the development of some

of the major technologies.

Global Vaccine and Immunization Research Forum Hayatee Hasan, WHO HQ

The Global Vaccine and Immunization Research Forum — co-hosted by

WHO, the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Dis-

eases, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — will take place from 4-6

March 2014 in Maryland, USA. The Forum will track progress on re-

search, identify actions recommended to be taken forward by the re-

search and development community, and provide opportunities for net-

working and collaborations across scientific and geographic boundaries.

Learn more about the Forum

Page 12

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

Resources

WHO-UNICEF guidelines for developing a comprehensive multi-year plan (cMYP)

(WHO/IVB/14.01) The revised WHO-UNICEF cMYP is now available online. This updated document provides guidance to countries

to make national comprehensive multi-year strategic plans (cMYP) for immunization, using the Global Vaccine

Action Plan (GVAP) 2011-2020 as a guiding framework. It provides a new approach to planning that can be sum-

marized as follows:

Ensuring that the strategies in the plan are sufficiently comprehensive using the GVAP as a guide.

Better alignment of immunization and health sector strategies to strengthen ownership, solve shared problems

and ensure maximum utilization of resources.

Planning by immunization system components rather than by disease or initiative.

Including costing and financing strategies for the immunization programme.

Ensuring active participation of relevant actors at all levels.

Equity in access to immunization services, and monitoring and accountability for the results have been en-

trenched into the document.

The document takes the reader through the process of planning, with examples of each step for illustration and

guidance. The seven steps for creating a comprehensive multi-year plan include: conducting situational analysis;

setting national objectives and milestones; planning strategies and key activities by immunization system compo-

nents; reviewing planned activities against GVAP activities; making an activity timeline and monitoring and evalua-

tion framework; costing, financing and resource mobilization for the cMYP; then putting the cMYP into action

through getting the necessary national level endorsements, developing an annual plan for the relevant year from

MYP, integrating and consolidating activities for implementation. Additionally, there is guidance on summarizing

the document into few pages to facilitate use for advocacy.

Video: WHO bringing health to people Hayatee Hasan, WHO HQ

In 2013, WHO gained its one millionth follower on the microblogging

service Twitter. As a token of gratitude, here are some of our 2013

highlights in the form of tweets. We selected some of our highlights

from the health topics that were most important to our Twitter fol-

lowers and Facebook fans.

Watch the video

Page 13

Calendar February

18-19 Next Generation Vaccine Delivery Technology Meeting Geneva, Switzerland

24-7Mar AFRO IST Expanded Programme on Immunization Managers meeting TBD

March

3-7 AFRO IST West Expanded Programme on Immunization Managers meeting Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

4-6 Global Vaccine Research and Immunization Research Forum (GVIRF) Bethesda, USA

10-14 AFRO IST East and South Expanded Programme on Immunization Managers meeting Harare, Zimbabwe

18-21 WPRO Regional Verification Commission Meeting Seoul, Republic of Korea

18-21 EURO Regional Meeting of National Immunization Programme Managers Antalya, Turkey

April

7-11 Workshop on vaccine safety (AEFI) surveillance and communication capacity building TBD

22-24 SEARO Regional Meeting on Strategic framework for IPV introduction New Delhi, India

23-30 World Immunization Week Global

29-30 Global Measles and Rubella Management Meeting Geneva, Switzerland

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

May

15-24 67th World Health Assembly Geneva, Switzerland

20-22 Expert consultation on accelerated control of Japanese encephalitis in the Western

Pacific Region

Manila, Philippines

27-29 Bi-regional meeting on prevention and control of Japanese Encephalitis New Delhi, India

Page 14

Calendar June

3-5 Third Workshop for NRAs for Vaccines in Western Pacific Manila, Philippines

9-20 Consultant training workshop on measles & rubella surveillance review and measles

elimination validation

Cairo, Egypt

16-20 WPRO 23rd Expanded Programme on Immunization Technical Advisory Group Meet-

ing

Manila, Philippines

24-26 AFRO Ministerial Conference Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

September

8-12 SEARO Regional Committee meeting New Delhi, India

22-24 Global Measles Rubella Laboratory Meeting Istanbul, Turkey

29-2 PAHO’s Directing Council Washington DC, USA

November

17-20 EMRO Expanded Programme on Immunization Managers meeting Amman, Jordan

22-25 Intercountry Meeting on Measles and Rubella Amman, Jordan

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014

Page 15

WHO Regional Websites Routine Immunization and New Vaccines (AFRO)

Immunization (PAHO)

Vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization (EMRO)

Vaccines and immunization (EURO)

Immunization (SEARO)

Immunization (WPRO)

Newsletters Immunization Newsletter (PAHO) The Civil Society Dose (GAVI CSO Constituency) TechNet Digest RotaFlash (PATH) GAVI Programme Bulletin (GAVI)

Organizations and Initiatives American Red Cross Child Survival Agence de Médecine Préventive Africhol EpiVacPlus LOGIVAC Project SIVAC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Polio Global Vaccines and Immunization Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center Vaccine Information Management System JSI Africa Routine Immunization Systems Essentials Project IMMUNIZATIONbasics PAHO ProVac Initiative PATH Vaccine Resource Library Rotavirus Vaccine Access and Delivery Malaria Vaccine Initiative Meningitis Vaccine Project RHO Cervical Cancer

Sabin Vaccine Institute Sustainable Immunization Financing UNICEF Immunization Supplies and Logistics USAID Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program WHO Department of Immunization, Vaccines & Biologicals New and Under-utilized Vaccines Implementation ICO Information Centre on HPV and Cancer Immunization financing Immunization service delivery Immunization surveillance, assessment and monitoring SIGN Alliance Other Coalition Against Typhoid Dengue Vaccine Initiative European Vaccine Initiative Gardasil Access Program GAVI Alliance International Association of Public Health Logisticians International Vaccine Institute Measles & Rubella Initiative Multinational Influenza Seasonal Mortality Study TechNet-21 Vaccines Today

UNICEF Regional Websites Immunization (Central and Eastern Europe)

Immunization (Eastern and Southern Africa)

Immunization (South Asia)

Immunization (West and Central Africa)

Child survival (Middle East and Northern Africa)

Health and nutrition (East Asia and Pacific)

Health and nutrition (Americas)

Links

Global Immunization News (GIN) January 2014