4th Global Meeting on Implementing New and Under-utilized Vaccines, 23-25 June 2010
Workgroup 7. Integrated approaches to vaccine-preventable disease control
Background
The WHO-UNICEF Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia was launched on November 2, 2009. Around the same time WHO and UNICEF also published a document titled "Diarrhoea: why are children still dying and what can be done." Both these documents articulate the burden of pneumonia and diarrhoea, the fact that effective interventions to reduce mortality from these two conditions are available and that the introduction of new vaccines against Hib, pneumococcus and rotavirus in developing countries offer the opportunity to simultaneously scale up the use of other complementary intervention and create synergies between different health programmes to maximize benefits. The strategies aim to scale up the use of interventions to prevent pneumonia/diarrhoea, protect children by addressing risk factors for disease morbidity and mortality and provide timely treatment at the community level to treat children with pneumonia and diarrhoea.
Significant momentum has been created through the advocacy efforts around the World Pneumonia Day and the May 2010 World Health Assembly resolution on pneumonia.
Main Topics of Discussion
- Updates were shared on pneumonia and diarrhoea strategies, district level health system strengthening for CCM, and the UNICEF communication framework for diarrhoea and pneumonia.
- The May 2010 WHA resolution on pneumonia and the need and opportunities for accelerating progress towards achieving MDG4 were reviewed. The WHA resolution on pneumonia should be used to mobilize resources and accelerate action.
- The proposed WHO/UNICEF regional workshops on synergistic approaches to pneumonia and diarrhoea control were discussed and consensus was reached on on the preparatory work for the proposed regional workshops:
- Target countries and key participants for regional workshops: criteria and process for selection
- Workshop format, key agenda items and expected outcomes
- Data/information that countries need to bring to the workshops
- Need to consider preparing templates and costing tools for preparing national action plans that are coordinated across departments
- Need to follow-up country activities following the regional workshops, e.g. preparation of national action plans, funding proposals etc.
- Need to build on outcomes of the UNICEF WHO district level health system strengthening for CCM
- It would be useful to have joint EPI and CAH missions in the countries ready to introduce new vaccines to develop coordinated preventive and treatment plans for pneumonia and diarrhoea.
- Countries should be supported in efforts to take advantage of currently available funding opportunities, e.g., GF Board decision to address MDGs 4 and 5.
Recommendations
- Child and Adolescent Health are invited to review the NUVI plan of action and identify areas for collaboration
- A template for reporting on implementation of WHA resolution on pneumonia to be drafted
- Follow-up on development and testing of integrated supply and distribution chain for EPI and other health interventions
- Establish WHO/UNICEF working group for preparation and implementation of regional workshops and future work on integrated service delivery of child survival interventions