On the 9th of June, 2014, the WHO Country Office handed over to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, three ELISA Reader machines to strengthen new vaccine surveillance in the country. Tanzania currently has 7 new vaccine Sentinel Sites for surveillance of Rotavirus Gastroenteritis (RGS) and Paediatric Bacterial Meningitis which aim to monitor the impact of the new vaccines in reducing disease incidence. The 3 ELISA Reader machines handed over are worth a total of USD 24,000 equivalent to Tanzanian Shillings 39,912,000.

The handing over ceremony was presided by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Hon. Dr. Seif Rashid and witnessed by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Donan Mmbando; Directors and Programme Officers from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the World Health Organization Representative for Tanzania, Dr. Rufaro Chatora, WHO staff and members of the media.

In his handing over speech, the WHO Representative, Dr. Rufaro Chatora, commended the National and Regional IVD Teams for their hard work to ensure that all children in Tanzania are fully immunized especially with the new vaccines. Dr. Chatora said, “WHO and Partners recognize these efforts and we are here today to hand over three ELISA reader machines for three Hospitals which didn’t have these equipments: Bugando Referral Hospital, Dodoma Regional Hospital and Mawenzi Kilimanjaro Regional Hospital. We are convinced that these ELISA Readers will increase the capacity of the hospitals to perform more advanced laboratory tests”.

He concluded by reassuring WHO’s commitment to work with partners to support the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in the implementation of the Global Vaccines Action Plan.

In his acceptance speech, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare Hon. Dr. Seif Rashid said that the ELISA Readers handed over will complement the country’s efforts in reducing underfive mortality. He said “Even though Tanzania is among the four countries in the African Region to have met the MDG 4 goal before 2015, the challenge still remains to sustain the gains and further reduce under-five mortality due to pneumonia and diarrhoea. The Reader machines will help to measure the impact of the newly introduced pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines”. The Minister concluded by expressing appreciation to the World Health Organization (WHO) for the timely support to the people of Tanzania and assured that the received machines will be distributed to the three sites and used for the intended purposes.