LUANDA, 09 December 2003 -- The 11th meeting of the Task Force on Immunization (TFI) in Africa and the 10th meeting of the Africa Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Committee (ARICC) ended on Friday, December 5, 2003 in Luanda, Angola with the adoption of recommendations aimed at strengthening Routine Immunization, interrupting wild polio virus in polio endemic countries and sustaining gains in accelerated disease control initiatives. 
“The TFI expresses its deepest concern about the continuing transmission of wild poliovirus in Nigeria and the adjacent countries,” TFI chairman Professor Francis Nkrumah told the meeting.

TFI participants made a recommendation that Nigeria convenes an internal consultative meeting to come up with homegrown solutions to the anti-polio vaccines campaign that has disrupted the National Immunization Days aimed at polio eradication in that country.

The participants recommended that the transmission of wild poliovirus in Nigeria and the adjacent countries should be interrupted in the shortest possible time, by conducting at least four high quality National Immunization Days (NIDs) in Nigeria and Niger in 2004. They called on the countries in the environs of Nigeria, to conduct Synchonised NIDs, while all polio free countries should conduct mop up exercises in response to importations. In order for the exercises to be successful the meeting also urged the partner agencies to provide adequate funds to support the required supplemental immunization activities.

Delegates adopted the recommendation calling on Member States to demonstrate ownership of routine immunization programmes by showing more political commitment, allocating more funds in the annual Ministry of Health budget as well as ensuring adequate human resources for programme implementation.

To reach all the children of Africa with vaccines, the meeting recommended that all countries in the region be encouraged to utilize approaches designed to reestablish outreach vaccination, provide supportive supervision, create links between community and service, proffer monitoring for action and allow for planning and management of resources collectively referred to as the Reach Every District approach. In addition the delegates passed the recommendation calling on countries to decentralize Inter Agency Coordinating Committees or to duplicate them at sub-national level to effectively coordinate and strengthen immunization programmes in all areas.

TFI, Member States and all partners were congratulated for the hard work done in measles control in the region, citing that it was possible that the international target for a 50 percent reduction in measles deaths could be reached before the set target of 2005, according to US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

In this context the meeting recommended that more funds be mobilized for accelerated measles prevention and control, Maternal and Neo-Natal Tetanus elimination as well as Yellow Fever control in the endemic countries.

A recommendation to integrate immunization programmes and activities at country and district levels to strengthen health services with other programmes such as malaria and vitamin A supplementation to create a broader, and sustainable health care package with the countries was also passed.

Furthermore, the meeting passed a recommendation urging governments and partners to mobilize additional support for communication activities for immunization and disease control initiatives.

The TFI was established in 1991 by Regional Director, WHOAFRO as a response to the need to revitalize the immunization programmes in the African region. The Task Force’s aim is to technically guide the process by critically reviewing progress made, identifying programme gaps in EPI, and making necessary recommendations for the region.

The ARICC, a grouping of partners in the immunization programme aims to coordinate partner efforts in the mobilization of necessary resources for activities in the control of vaccine preventable diseases.

For further information, please contact 
Information and Communication Unit, WHO Regional Office for Africa 
Harare, Zimbabwe. 
Tel: (263-4)703580; 706951; 705043/ Fax: 1 321 722 9021 
E-mail: nshimirimanad [at] whoafr.org (nshimirimanad[at]whoafr[dot]org) ; teixeiram [at] whoafro.int (teixeiram[at]whoafro[dot]int)  ; jcaetano [at] omsangola.ebonet.net (jcaetano[at]omsangola[dot]ebonet[dot]net)