Ukraine has reported over 57 000 measles cases for 2019, representing over half the total number reported in the WHO European Region (for the period January to November 2019). As part of a comprehensive response to this outbreak, the Public Health Centre and State Expert Centre of the Ministry of Health and WHO conducted a series of 2-day workshops in 12 regions of the country in 2019 to enhance the skills of regional rapid-response teams in line with national and global standards for outbreak response.
Knowledgeable and skilled staff is a cornerstone of a robust health system that protects people from vaccine-preventable diseases and provides quality-assured services to everyone. Workshop participants received updated information on topics including pharmacovigilance, WHO’s recommendations on surveillance of adverse events following immunization (AEFI), immunization safety and the basics of crisis communication.
The workshops also provided an opportunity to review challenges that the rapid-response teams face on the regional level, and discuss possible solutions jointly with representatives from the Public Health Centre and the State Expert Centre.
Such activities are crucial to overcome barriers to vaccination and enhance Ukraine’s immunization programme. Despite progress made in Ukraine since 2016 in improving national vaccination coverage, significant challenges persist in reaching the 95% coverage recommended by WHO and thereby also in achieving elimination of measles and rubella and maintaining polio-free status.
The trainings will also improve the performance of national AEFI surveillance systems in line with regional and global standards, and will further strengthen integration of vaccine pharmacovigilance with broader health system components at all levels.