The vaccination team in Gazaoua, Niger, supporting the yellow fever outbreak response. May 2023. 

EYE Strategy May newsletter 

A pivotal moment in the EYE Strategy

At the outset of the EYE Strategy in 2017, the partners took the courageous step of planning a mid-term evaluation, which they committed to undertake in 2022.

An independent mid-term evaluation (managed by the WHO Evaluation team) was undertaken to assess EYE’s progress since its launch in 2017, and to provide recommendations for the way forward.  

The aim of the mid-term evaluation was to learn from the findings of the first half of the Strategy, and to ensure accountability for implementing the recommendations in its second half, thus ensuring EYE’s goal of protecting almost 1 billion people from yellow fever (YF) by 2026 is achieved.  

To read the two-page report summary and the full report, use the links below.

Click here for the report summary. 

Click here for the full report.

The mid-term evaluation report highlights eight key recommendations. A management response that outlines the key actions to be undertaken for each recommendation was published and can be found by clicking here.

To see the full presentation by the external evaluators at last year’s Annual Partners’ Meeting, please follow this link. The presentation can be found at 2 hours 13 minutes and 28 seconds.

EYE is now entering the accelerated phase of the Strategy. This means there is an amplified effort to reach the agreed milestones and prepare for the transition out of the Strategy post 2026.

Country updates

Reactive Vaccination Campaigns (RVCs)  

All RVCs are approved by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision (ICG) and supported by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. 

Niger  

Following one confirmed case of yellow fever (YF) in Gazaoua district in late 2022, an RVC was completed in May 2023 to target ~222,000 people  for protection against the disease.  

Guinea   

The YF RVC in Dabola health district is now complete with high rates of coverage ~99%. The campaign protected over 200,000 people against YF and meningitis.   

Central African Republic (CAR)  

Following one confirmed case of a worker in a forest area, an RVC was confirmed to target ~ 233,400 people for protection against YF. The vaccination campaign will target the resident population and seasonal workers conducting forest activities.  

Congo   

The RVC in Pointe Noire, following two confirmed cases of YF in February 2023, has now been concluded. This was conducted using a vaccine surplus from previous preventive mass vaccination campaigns (PMVCs). 

Vaccination posts will be kept open until June 2023 and the aim is to protect over 1 million people across all districts.   

Vaccination Week in the Americas - campaign to vaccinate Bolivians at high risk of yellow fever. April & May 2023 © Pan American Health Office (PAHO)

Bolivia  

During Vaccination Week in the Americas (April to May 2023), with the support of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a YF vaccination campaign by the Expanded Immunization Program administered ~29,345 doses of the vaccine to protect people between the ages of 1 and 49 years old.  

The campaign was administered in departments at high-risk of yellow fever infection: Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz and Tarija. 

Preventive mass vaccination campaigns (PMVCs)  

Launch of yellow fever vaccination campaign in Uganda. June 2023. Click on the image above or here to view the video.

Uganda  

Following last year’s successful introduction of the YF vaccine into Uganda’s routine immunization (RI) programme, the country’s multi-year YF PMVC began on 9th June. Three phases of the PMVC are planned. Phase one in June 2023; phase two will be implemented in October 2023, and phase 3 in October 2024.

The first phase of the vaccination campaign covers 51 districts in six regions (Kabale, Kabarole, Hoima, Lira, Gulu, and Arua), and will target ~13,397,640 people, which amounts to 93% of the population in the five of the 51 districts.

Persons of ages 9 months to 60 years will be included in the campaign, as well as the refugee population.  Phase two will cover the districts of Buikwe and Buvuma.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)   

A PMVC in Kasai Oriental was completed in March 2023. YF vaccination campaigns in Lomami, Kasai and Central Kasai will now be combined with measles round 1 for improved efficiency. Planning for this integrated campaign is underway. 

In total, 17 million people are anticipated to have been protected in these districts.  Further PMVCs in Kongo Central, Kwango, Kwilu, and Mai Ndombe are due to take place in October 2023.   

Nigeria  

All states with planned vaccination campaigns for 2022 have now been completed. Borno state, which was not fully covered by vaccination campaigns in previous years due to security concerns, now plans to vaccinate the unprotected parts of the state this year, as the situation has improved. More information will be provided in due course.  

EYE Strategy implementation in Brazil

Three training workshops were held for micro-planning activities for healthcare workers to intensify vaccination against yellow fever in the Northeast of Brazil: two in Rio Grande do Norte and one in the Ministry of Health. April and May 2023 with 150 participants. © PAHO

PAHO and the Brazilian Ministry of Health conducted training sessions for healthcare professionals in the microplanning of high-quality vaccination activities for routine programmes and campaigns.

The sessions took place in April for the municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte with the support of the State Health Secretary, and continued in Brasilia at PAHO headquarters at the start of May.

The sessions trained facilitators, who work in immunization, epidemiological surveillance, and primary healthcare, to enable them to replicate the methodology in the other states and municipalities of the country.

Press release

Image © WHO Uganda

Routine yellow fever vaccination for children taking shape in Uganda

8th June 2023

Two hundred kilometers from Uganda’s capital Kampala lies Bukakata sub-county in Masaka district. Located along the shores of Lake Victoria, the sub county is one of the areas that reported a case of yellow fever in 2022 through the sentinel surveillance system.

The laboratory confirmed case scared community members, fearing the disease would spread among the largely mobile fishing community. It took the joint effort of local leaders, village health teams (VHTs), and health workers to contain the situation. The efforts included promoting health seeking behaviour and addressing the myths and misconceptions about the disease.

“Many people in the community attribute diseases like yellow fever to witchcraft,” says Edward Mayanja, the public health officer for Bukakata sub-county, adding that this complicates supportive interventions. To read the full story, click here.

Publications

Image © UNICEF

Tackling yellow fever: UNICEF's efforts to strengthen diagnostic testing

UNICEF and partners are empowering countries to enhance disease surveillance to protect the most vulnerable children and their families.

Yellow fever, a mosquito-borne disease that causes more than 50,000 deaths annually, has long affected tropical and sub-tropical regions. With its potential to cause widespread outbreaks, it poses a significant threat to children’s health and well-being.

In the fight against this disease, UNICEF has taken the lead in procuring and delivering essential diagnostics supplies – and the results have been extremely positive. This boost to disease surveillance is helping to inform decision making for vaccination campaigns, transforming how we tackle yellow fever and its impact on communities. To read more, click here to access.

Early Warning Alert and Response (EWAR) in Emergencies:
an operational guide

Populations affected by emergencies are continually at risk of outbreaks of epidemic-prone diseases and other public health hazards. This operational guidance aims to guide decision-making on when and how to implement and strengthen Early Warning Alert and Response (EWAR) in preparation for and response to emergencies.

Each module aims to provide updated operational guidance for EWAR practices, which may be more easily understood and applied during emergencies. Through its application, this operational guidance aims to contribute to: 

• earlier detection of acute public health events 

• earlier and more effective response 

• reduced impact of emergencies on health 

• increased trust of the population in the (public) health system 

• fulfilling our collective commitments to the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005). 

This guidance was developed jointly by 69 people from more than 20 organizations from global level to country level. Click here to access.

Events

Some members of the EYE Programme Management Group (PMG), Geneva. June 2023

7th to 8th June 2023 – The EYE Programme Management Group (PMG) retreat, Geneva 

The EYE PMG held a two-day workshop to plan the implementation of the mid-term evaluation recommendations for the duration of the EYE Strategy that ends in 2026. Representatives from all of EYE's key partners were present; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, representing both global and regional interests.

The focus of the two-day workshop was to:  

• Jointly define the key priorities for the EYE acceleration phase (current phase of the Strategy to boost efforts to reach EYE's 2026 aims).
• Outline key actions to deliver on that acceleration (with timeframe and responsibilities), to be rapidly built in a multiyear action plan.
• Identify priority topics to be discussed as a second stage of action planning.

20th to 23rd June 2023 – Technical Advisory Group on Arbovirus (TAG-Arbovirus), Accra, Ghana

29th June 2023 – EYE Strategy communication workshop, Geneva 

A one-day workshop to develop the communication strategy for EYE for the remainder of the strategy that ends in 2026. Key outputs will be shared with communication peers in partner organizations, regions and countries in due course. (Invite only) 

Webinar recording - Early Warning System for Mosquito-borne diseases (EYWA) 

Dr Charalampos Kontoes (Head of the Operational Unit BEYOND Centre of Earth Operation (EO) research and satellite remote sensing of the National Observatory of Athens, Coordinator of EuroGEO Action Group for Epidemics, and Lead Partner of EYWA) moderates this webinar, and has also appeared on an episode of the EYE Strategy's EYE on Yellow Fever podcast, which you can access by clicking here. 

EYWA is a game changer in the domain of epidemics. The solution enhances mosquito surveillance and control at various spatio-temporal scales and in different climatic zones, and guides day-to-day prevention and mitigation actions.

EYWA significantly reduces the entomological risk and results in the prevention of human cases in thousands of villages where it is employed. To learn more, click here.