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UID:68b763a2622df076861401727fc2e778
DTSTAMP:20260604T051617Z

DTSTART:20220615T090000
DTEND:20220617T170000
SUMMARY:2022 Annual EPI Managers Meeting for West Africa 
DESCRIPTION:The annual Essential Programme on Immunization (EPI) Managers’ meeting for West Africa was virtually held between 15-17 June 2022, gathering EPI Managers from the 17 countries covered by IST West Africa. \nThe purpose of the meeting was to discuss, align and give recommendations on key issues affecting the immunization program, as well as to deliberate on strategies to improve the performance of the EPI, which was negativelyy impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.\nThe participating countries were Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.\nThe meeting was facilitated by staff from WHO, UNICEF, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\n(CDC) Atlanta, the West African Health Organization (WAHO), and Agence de Médecine Préventive (AMP).\nDuring the meeting, special focus was given on the need to tackle funding issues while trying to expand access and accelerate efforts in reaching zero- dose populations. COVID-19 vaccinations were also highlighted, for which innovations should be sought to increase coverage. Integration was emphasized as a core element in strengthening demand generation and community mobilization for immunization. Furthermore, there were discussions on the need to incorporate behavioural science and a human centered gender-sensitive approach in overcoming vaccine hesitancy and stagnation in vaccination efforts.\nRecommendations were adopted on coordination, zero dose population, funding, coverage, COVID-19 vaccination, outbreak response, and logistics. Additionally, IST West established an internal mechanism to track the progress made on those recommendations.\n----\nAuthors: Hilaire DADJO (WHO/IST West), Oni EFFE-ALUTA (WHO/IST West Africa), Ado BWAKA (WHO/IST West Africa)

X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">\n<HTML>\n<HEAD>\n<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="MS Exchange Server version 08.00.0681.000">\n<TITLE></TITLE>\n</HEAD>\n<BODY>\n<!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->\n\n<p><span data-contrast="auto">The annual Essential Programme on Immunization (EPI) Managers’ meeting for West Africa was virtually held between 15-17 June 2022, gathering EPI Managers from the 17 countries covered by IST West Africa. </span><span data-ccp-props="{"></span></p><br /><p><span data-contrast="auto">The purpose of the meeting was to discuss, align and give recommendations on key issues affecting the immunization program, as well as to deliberate on strategies to improve the performance of the EPI, which was negatively</span><span data-contrast="auto">y</span><span data-contrast="auto"> impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"></span></p><br /><p><span data-contrast="auto">The participating countries were Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"></span></p><br /><p><span data-contrast="auto">The meeting was facilitated by staff from WHO, UNICEF, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</span><span data-ccp-props="{"></span></p><br /><p><span data-contrast="auto">(CDC) Atlanta, the West African Health Organization (WAHO), and Agence de Médecine Préventive (</span><span data-contrast="auto">AMP).</span><span data-ccp-props="{"></span></p><br /><p><span data-contrast="auto">During the meeting, special focus was given on the need to tackle funding issues while trying to expand access and accelerate efforts in reaching zero</span><span data-contrast="auto">-</span> <span data-contrast="auto">dose populations. COVID-19 vaccinations were also highlighted, for which innovations should be sought to increase coverage. Integration was emphasized as a core element in strengthening demand generation and community mobilization for immunization. Furthermore, there were discussions on the need to incorporate behavioural science and a human centered gender-sensitive approach in overcoming vaccine hesitancy and stagnation in vaccination efforts.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"></span></p><br /><p><span data-contrast="auto">Recommendations were adopted on coordination, zero dose population, funding, coverage, COVID-19 vaccination, outbreak response, and logistics. Additionally, IST West established an internal mechanism to track the progress made on those recommendations.</span><span data-ccp-props="{"></span></p><br /><p>----</p><br /><p><span class="TextRun SCXW242842811 BCX9" lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW242842811 BCX9">Author</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW242842811 BCX9">s</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW242842811 BCX9">:</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW242842811 BCX9" lang="EN-GB" data-contrast="none"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW242842811 BCX9"> </span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW242842811 BCX9">Hilaire DADJO (WHO/IST West), Oni EFFE-ALUTA (WHO/IST West Africa), Ado BWAKA (WHO/IST West Africa)</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW242842811 BCX9" data-ccp-props="{"></span></p>\n\n</BODY>\n</HTML>

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