2023 Annual Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) Managers Meeting for West Africa
Dates: 11- 14 July 2023
Venue: Lomé (Togo), West Africa
Participants: almost 250 participants, mainly from the Ministries of Health of the 17 West African countries covered by IST West Africa, as well as numerous partners, including UNICEF, Gavi, WAHO, AMP, PATH and other immunization, health system, reproductive health, emergency support teams.
Objectives of the meeting:
- Update participants on regional efforts and global strategies for countries to achieve the goals of the 2030 Immunization Agenda;
- Discuss key challenges and bottlenecks, in alignment with key approaches to strengthen outbreak response and the impact of health emergencies on the immunization programme;
- Discuss polio eradication initiatives in the region and strategies to fast-track country initiatives;
- Share lessons learned and best practices in strengthening the immunization programme in countries, including integration of COVID-19 immunization into primary health care services, integration with other reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) programmes, and a primary health care approach to closing gaps in service delivery;
- Review and align with country plans and strategies for redesigning their immunization programmes and get back on track to meet the targets of the 2030 Immunization Agenda and the Regional Strategic Plan for Immunization;
- Review and align with the joint implementation of the Essential Immunization Recovery Plan, focusing on priority countries in the West African sub-region.
Summary:
Dealing with the core theme the “Big Catch-up”, An Essential Immunization Recovery Plan for 2023 and Beyond, this 2023 edition of the EPI Managers Meeting sought to review and align national plans and progress with technical approaches in developing and implementing strategies to increase immunization performance and reduce both the number of so-called “zero-dose” children, namely those who have never received the first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine, as well as the number of under-immunized children in the sub-region
Specific objectives of the meeting:
The meeting featured global and regional updates on key immunization guidelines and strategies, sharing of best practices, discussions on specific themes, including specific vaccine-preventable diseases, health information management, innovations in immunization data reporting and archiving technologies, collaboration of immunization programs with other health programmes, community engagement approaches, and the implications of various key pillars of health system strengthening.
Ultimately, the four-day proceedings, split into 10 specific sessions, culminated in the adoption of some sixty recommendations. IST West, on behalf of WHO, and UNICEF/WCARO both pledged to support countries in their implementation.
The recommendations were directed at countries and partners in the following areas: Zero-dose, under-vaccinated children, integration of COVID-19 Vaccination, vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks, specific diseases (poliomyelitis, meningitis, yellow fever, measles, pneumonia, diarrhoea and other vaccine-preventable diseases), introduction of new vaccines and change of existing vaccines, introduction of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, documentation and health information system.
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Author: Dr Hilaire DADJO, WHO/IST West Africa,
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