Ninth Meeting of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Laboratory Networks in the Western Pacific Region

Overview

The Ninth Meeting of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Laboratory Networks in the Western Pacific Region was held virtually from 27 September to 1 October 2021 to review the performance and identify the challenges of the poliovirus and measles and rubella network laboratories in the Region.

Meeting participants reviewed ways to further strengthen the performance of network laboratories and also monitor the implementation of recommendations from the previous meeting in March 2019. The meeting provided an opportunity to address the challenges of maintaining surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to discuss strengthening the quality and sensitivity of poliovirus detection, and enhancing poliovirus surveillance through increasing the sequencing capacity of national laboratories, introduction of direct virus detection and environmental surveillance in key countries and the application of the WHO Global Action Plan to minimize poliovirus facility-associated risk after type-specific eradication of wild polioviruses and sequential cessation of oral polio vaccine use (known as GAPIII) for the containment of poliovirus in the laboratory network. Participants also discussed: ways to improve the quality and timeliness of laboratory-based surveillance through establishing subnational laboratories, the introduction of rapid diagnostic tests for measles and rubella in countries and areas with challenging infrastructure, and the importance of molecular surveillance for support of verification of elimination of measles and rubella