Regional consultations on vaccines this year

Sophia Meier



A regional consultation between the countries of the Hemisphere will be held from November to December 2011 to discuss plans for the ‘Decade of Vaccines’- a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) initiative.



The initiative is sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, who have pledged US$10 billion to the project over the next 10 years.



The regional consultation on ‘Decade of Vaccines’ was one of the many positive results of the XIX Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Vaccine-preventable Diseases, which was held on July 8 in Buenos Aires, with representatives of the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration and eight of the countries in the Hemisphere.



During the consultation of late 2011, it is expected that the heads of immunization programs, the people in charge of epidemiological surveillance, and the chairs and members of national immunization advisory committees will be present, with the purpose of determining a plan of action for the ‘Decade of Vaccines’.



Christopher Elias, co-chair of the Steering Committee of the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration, emphasized the successes of vaccination programs in the Americas, especially showing appreciation for the PAHO/WHO Revolving Fund, an organization who provides vaccines, syringes and other supplies to its member countries.



Despite the Americas leading the world in the elimination of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as polio, rubella, measles and smallpox, a percentage of the populations of the counties remain unvaccinated.



‘Decade of Vaccines’ is aimed at providing immunisation to all people, regardless of where they live. Vaccination is regarded as one of the most efficient ways of improving the health of a population.



During the XIX Meeting, Dr Jon Andrus, deputy director of PAHO, introduced ProVac, another initiative sponsored by the Bill and Melinda foundation.



The main purpose of ProVac is to improve the ability of the countries in the Americas to made decisions based on evidence when adding new vaccines to their vaccinations programs.



sophia.meier@gleanerjm.com