Abuja, 19 November 2009 -- The first of two five-day inter-country workshops on pandemic influenza A H1N1 vaccine depolyment organized by the World Health Organziation (WHO) for its Member States in the African Region got underway on Monday in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

The workshop, being attended by representatives of French- and Portguese-speaking countries will be followed by another, scheduled from 23 to 27 November 2009, for English-speaking countries.

Both workshops aim at:

• Strengthening the capacity of countries to deploy the new H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine and other ancillary supplies,
• Improving the ability of Member States to identify gaps and plan for the mobilization of the extra resources needed to deploy the vaccine and other ancillary supplies
• Providing countries with necessary information to update their legal frameworks to allow for the importation and use of the new vaccine and other ancillary supplies,
• Providing participants with information and familiarizing them with procedures that could impact on logistics during the deployment H1N1 vaccines, and
• Orienting participants on ways of establishing a common management body at all levels of the health system so as to ensure better coordination and effective communication between all governments and civil society sectors.

At Monday’s opening ceremony of the first workshop chaired by a representative of the Nigerian Minister of Health, WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr Peter Eriki, said: “The pandemic Influenza A/H1N1 is a matter of global concern that requires international partnerships and cohesion to overcome”. He added that human infection with the pandemic H1N1 had now spread to over 200 countries, territories and communities and that there was the possibility that it may still spread to others.

Dr Eriki stated that in order to face up to the challenge of the current pandemic, all countries in the African Region had revised or updated their contingency and emergency preparedness and response plans; set up influenza A/HIN1 task forces, and were enhancing their capacity for early detection, laboratory confirmation of cases and rapid response.

Practicing good hygiene and respiratory etiquette (such as hand washing and covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing) and staying at home when sick, can help prevent or stop the spread of the virus. Effective public information and enhanced surveillance are also crucial response elements. But one of the most effective ways of protecting people from developing infection is to vaccinate populations at risk. The vaccines boost the immunity of targeted populations against the virus, and ensure public health safety as the pandemic evolves.

WHO has negotiated the donation of a limited number of pandemic influenza vaccines from several manufacturers and donor countries. Given that current demand outstrips supply, these donations, will help increase supplies of pandemic vaccines to populations that would otherwise not have access.

During the recently concluded fifty-ninth session of the WHO Regional Committee in Kigali, Rwanda, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, exhorted Member States to strengthen their preparedness and response capacities in the face of new pandemic.

In June 2009, WHO declared Influenza H1N1 virus a pandemic in response to the geographic spread of the disease

For more information, please contact:

Technical Contacts: Dr. Richard Mihigo Routine Immunization and New Vaccines Officer
Tel: 47 241 39926 Email: mihigor [at] afro.who.int

Media Contacts : Joana Teixeira Information Officer
Tel: 47 241 39382 Email: teixeiram [at] afro.who.int

Omer N’Ganga Social Mobilization Officer, IVD/IST Central Africa
Tel:+ 241 07 29 65 59 ngangao [at] ga.afro.who.int

Ola Soyinka Health Promotion Officer, WHO Abuja
Tel +234 803 402 0829 soyinkao [at] ng.afro.who.int