The EAC is a regional intergovernmental organisation of 6 Partner States: the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the Republic of Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. It is home to 177 million people, with a land area of 2.5 million square km and a combined GDP of US$ 193 billion (EAC Statistics for 2019).
The work of the EAC is guided by its Treaty, which mandates Partner States to collaborate and deepen integration on political, economic, social and cultural dimensions with a view to improve the quality of life of the citizen. It is under this framework particularly Article 118 of the Treat authorizes the Partner States to cooperate with eventual integration on Health. This how the EAC formed the Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunisation and Health supply Chain Management (EAC RCE-VIHSCM). The RCE works closely with EAC Expanded Program for Immunisation (EPI), National Medical Stores, the National Drug Authorities and, the public universities and other Supply Chain Management (SCM) leaders to find innovative solutions to solve existing and emerging challenges to immunisation and health supply systems in the region.
The creation of this community of practice (CoP) with support from WHO TechNet-21 is thus a vehicle to institutionalise closer collaboration especially in the face of COVID-19 onslaught. This will help the EAC counter the impact of the pandemic on routine immunisation and to prepare itself for the advent of corona virus vaccine. Besides the EAC-Immunisation Managers, the CoP will aim to pool together other practitioners of health supply chain as well as expertise from UN agencies like Gavi, UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA and reputable CSOs.
Every year, the WHO European Region marks European Immunization Week (EIW) to promote immunization as vital to preventing diseases and protecting life.
This year, on 24–30 April 2019, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the benefits of vaccines and to celebrate the “vaccine heroes” who contribute in so many ways to protecting lives through vaccination.
To find out more about the EIW, please visit WHO Europe website: www.euro.who.int/eiw2019
You are invited to join, follow and share the information and images on the WHO Europe Facebook EIW 2019 event