Networking activities 2006

• Geneva Forum Towards Global Access to Health
  Geneva, Switzerland, 30 August – 1 September 2006
• GAVI Sub regional Working Group Meeting for AFRO (Centre and West)
  Maputo, November 30, 2006
• WHO-AFRO Meeting of the Task Force on Immunisation (TFI) and Meeting of the Africa Regional Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee (ARICC),
  Maputo, Mozambique, 27 – 30 November 2006
• WHO-AFRO Twelfth Meeting of the Task Force on Immunisation (TFI) and Eleventh Meeting of the Africa Regional Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee (ARICC), Brazzaville, Congo, 28 February – 3 March 2006
• Middle East North Africa (MENA) Vaccine Preventable Diseases Advisory Group, Brussels, Belgium, 30 – 31 January 2006
  

Networking activities 2005

• 10th meeting of Regional Working Group on GAVI, Cairo, Egypt, 14 – 15 December 2005
• Fourth Immunization Training Partnership Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 10-11 October 2005
• Eastern Africa EPI Managers’ Meeting, Zanzibar, 7-11 March 2005
• Southern Africa EPI Managers’ Meeting, Windhoek, Namibia, 2-4 March 2005
  
  
  

Networking 2006

Geneva Forum Towards Global Access to Health
Geneva, Switzerland, 30 August – 1 September 2006

The symposium was organised by the Geneva University Hospitals and the Medical School of the University of Geneva, in collaboration with the Geneva international and non-governmental organisations active in health and care. Health and access to health are preliminary conditions or determinants that can improve social welfare and societal stability. Insuring access to essential drugs, care and preventive measures such as vaccinations, clean water and sanitation, access to training and information, reaching vulnerable populations to offer basic services, are challenges the international community must address.
The Forum aimed to define how hospitals/universities, individually and through networks, in collaboration with all international organisations active in health and humanitarian fields as well as representatives of the civil society can improve access to health.
NESI presented at the symposium a poster (Evaluation of Mid-Level Management Training in Immunisation in the African Region) and a presentation
(Public Private Partnerships: The Network for Education and Support in Immunisation)..

Download Geneva Forum 2006 Public Private Partnerships NESI : 282 K

Download Geneva Forum 2006 MLM Evaluation : 44,4 K

GAVI Sub regional Working Group Meeting for AFRO (Centre and West)
Maputo, November 30, 2006

This half-day meeting was organized back to back with the 2006 ITF and ARICC meetings in Maputo. NESI formally is not a member of these working groups but for information purposes and NESI’s potential input in 2007 activities, NESI’s participation was requested by WHO. Three major points were discussed: (1) status of progress of GAVI countries in the sub regions in the elaboration of their cMYP’s; (2) status of progress in the submission of plans for GAVI 2 support in the 4 domains concerned: support to vaccination services; strengthening of health systems; introduction of new vaccines; and support to injection safety; an approved cMYP is a conditio sine qua non for requesting GAVI phase 2 support; (3) information on the establishment of an evaluation bureau in GAVI ; GAVI is interested in establishing local networks which can perform evaluation on the process and impact of GAVI sponsored initiatives and policy.
NESI will be involved in capacity building for immunization programme planning, and collaborate with its academic networks in Africa to help developing these GAVI requested evaluation studies.

WHO-AFRO Meeting of the Task Force on Immunisation (TFI) and Meeting of the Africa Regional Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee (ARICC),
Maputo, Mozambique, 27 – 30 November 2006

The TFI and ARICC meetings provide an important venue where different partners in immunisation meet to review progress and make recommendations for the ensuing year and pledge commitments that are integrated into an annual action plan for the WHO/AFRO Department of Vaccines and Biologicals, which guides all training activities for Africa. NESI was invited to give a presentation on ´Experience with EPI pre-service training in the African Region´.

Highlights of the TFI meeting
There has been significant progress in the implementation of the recommendations formulated at the last TFI meeting in Brazzaville from 28 February to 3 March 2006:

• 30 countries have attended workshops for comprehensive Multi-Year Planning (cMYP) and 16 countries (out of 46) have prepared plans;
• 40 out of 46 countries contribute from their national budget to vaccination (35 in March 2006);
• The Regional Strategic Framework Document for the Integration of Child Survival Interventions has been approved;
• -ICCs have been actively involved in Supplementary Immunisation Activities in all countries;
• All districts in the region are implementing at least 3 of the 5 components of the Reaching Every District Approach, while approximately 90% of the districts are implementing all 5 components in 2006;
• Three planning workshops were held with 18 countries to draft health care waste management policies;
• In Nigeria there has been an increased vaccination coverage and increased Government funding for vaccination;
• To reduce the number of children with ´zero dose´ polio vaccination, a number of synchronized SIAs (covering 14 countries) were conducted all over the Region;
• AFP surveillance field guide was updated and disseminated to countries. As of October 2006, 92% (42/46) countries had achieved certification level surveillance compared to 85% (13/46) countries in 2005;
• Regarding polio outbreaks, timely funding has been provided to respond in 6 countries (Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, DRC, Kenya and Namibia);
• Regarding measles, regional guidelines for introducing 2nd dose of measles vaccine are being developed: three countries selected (Benin, Zambia, Uganda) to submit plans for GAVI funding by December 2006, technical guidelines for integrated measles SIAs developed and shared with countries and a technical guideline on rubella has been drafted;
• On the introduction of new vaccines: a forum for decision-makers on prevention of Hib and pneumococcal diseases are assisted to explore financing mechanisms and strategies for their immunisation programs and 11 of the 17 remaining GAVI eligible countries have expressed interest in applying for the Hib (pentavalent) vaccine soon.