WHO AFRO Organizes Workshop on Vaccine Deployment to Member States

Two five-day inter-country workshops on pandemic 2009 H1N1 vaccine deployment organized by WHO for its Member States in the African Region were held in November in Abuja, Nigeria.

Both workshops aim at:

• Strengthening the capacity of countries to deploy the new H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine and other ancillary supplies,
• Improving the ability of Member States to identify gaps and plan for the mobilization of the extra resources needed to deploy the vaccine and other ancillary supplies
• Providing countries with necessary information to update their legal frameworks to allow for the importation and use of the new vaccine and other ancillary supplies,
• Providing participants with information and familiarizing them with procedures that could impact on logistics during the deployment H1N1 vaccines, and
• Orienting participants on ways of establishing a common management body at all levels of the health system so as to ensure better coordination and effective communication between all governments and civil society sectors.

WHO has negotiated the donation of a limited number of pandemic influenza vaccines from several manufacturers and donor countries. Given that current demand outstrips supply, these donations, will help increase supplies of pandemic vaccines to populations that would otherwise not have access.

Source: http://www.afro.who.int/press/2009/pr20091119.html