Multi regional workshop to develop evidence, policies & SOPs on effective vaccine management

Dates and venue: 9-13 December 2024 - Bangkok, Thailand

Participants: A total of 40 participants from 12 countries including MOH officials, WHO and UNICEF attended the meeting. The countries represented were Afghanistan (WHO, UNICEF), Bangladesh (WHO, UNICEF, MOH), Bhutan (MOH), DPR Korea (UNICEF only), India (WHO, UNICEF), Indonesia (MOH, WHO), Maldives (MOH), Myanmar (WHO, UNICEF), Nepal (MOH, WHO, UNICEF), Pakistan (WHO, UNICEF), Sri Lanka (MOH, UNICEF), Thailand (MOH), Timor Leste (MOH).

Overview: The main purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the capacity for effective vaccine management in the regions. The workshop aimed to understand effective vaccine management benchmarks, identify gaps in the immunization supply chain (iSC) policies, guidelines, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and job aids, and develop a strategy and action plan to address these gaps.

The meeting was organized by WHO HQ, WHO SEARO, UNICEF ROSA, and UNICEF EAPRO, focusing on four thematic areas: overview on evidence, policies, SOPs, and the effective vaccine management framework; sharing good practices by countries; group work to identify gaps and priority SOPs; and developing country action plans.

Outcomes: Each country team reviewed the various components of effective vaccine management viz ST, R1-R6, E1-E9 and M1-M4 and identified gaps and developed an action plan. Countries willing to share their SOPs, guidelines, and job aids uploaded them to a shared drive, with eight countries already contributing. Follow-up on the action points will be conducted in Q3 of 2025.

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Name and Organization of author(s): Sudhir Khanal, WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia, Paritosh Panigrahi, UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia.

Photo credit: WHO SEARO