On February 6, 2023, members of national immunization technical advisory groups (NITAGs) from Liberia, Botswana, South Sudan and Uganda converged in Kampala, Uganda for a five-day capacity building workshop. The workshop aimed at reinforcing the capacity of members to efficiently undertake technical and advisory roles.  

NITAGs are bodies composed of multidisciplinary independent experts supporting evidence generation for developing policies and programmes related to immunization and vaccines in participating countries. The goal of NITAGs’ work is to conduct the best review of scientific evidence of vaccines and vaccination processes and provide timely, evidence-based recommendations on vaccines and immunization policy.  

The technical advisory groups are a product of the 2005 World Health Assembly which adopted the Global Vision and Strategy for Immunization, recommending countries to strengthen informed decision-making. This was reinforced by the Global Vaccine Action Plan which required all countries to have functional NITAGs by 2020 as part of their commitment to immunization. 

In his remarks at the opening ceremony, WHO Uganda Representative, Dr. Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, noted that NITAGs had been instrumental in guiding strong decision making on new vaccine introduction as directed by the GAVI portfolio. He tasked the NITAGS to adapt to the changing immunisation systems that called for quick decision making and expertise in evidence-informed decision making and generation of local data. 

“There is a growing number of vaccine preventable diseases, and vaccine products in addition to immunization technologies becoming more diverse and complex. The COVID-19 pandemic and emergence of other infectious diseases like the Sudan Ebola Virus Disease in Uganda demonstrated the need for quick decision making when dealing with deadly pathogens,” he said.

The capacity building workshop, organized by the WHO African Regional office with support from Welcome Trust Foundation, was facilitated by the; NITAGs Support Hub, Task Force for Global Health, CDC, Uganda Academia of Science, WHO headquarters, regional Office and IST/ESA.