7th Polio Technical Advisory Group Meeting opens in Lusaka
Lusaka, 16 March 2011 -- The 7th Polio Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Meeting for Angola, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and Zambia is taking place from 16th- 18th March, 2011 in Lusaka. Arising from the continued Wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission in Angola, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo and the continued risk of importation to bordering countries, this meeting has been convened to review the status of implementation of polio eradication activities, routine immunization and surveillance activities in each of the participating countries within the context of cross-border collaboration. It will particularly review the recommendations of the 6th TAG meeting which was held in March 2010 at which specific recommendations were made to guide polio eradication activities and to ensure high population immunity and high quality surveillance to rapidly detect any WPV importation. The recommendations from the TAG meeting will be deliberated upon by the Inter-Country Ministerial meeting on cross-border public health issues which is taking place in Lusaka from 17th -18th March 2011 and is expected to come up with specific commitments and recommendations on inter-country strategies for addressing cross-border public health issues.
The Acting Director of Public Health and Research at Ministry of Health, Dr. Mulakwa Kamuliwo officially opened the meeting on 16th March, 2011. In his statement, he said that the continued outbreaks of polio in Angola, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo posed a threat of importation to other countries if prevention and control efforts were not intensified. He said that it was time for countries to consolidate the achievements made in polio eradication by strengthening health systems and urged countries to advocate for resources for polio eradication efforts.
Speaking at the same function, the WHO Representative, Dr. Olusegun Babaniyi emphasised the need for cross-border collaboration in order to minimize the risk of transmission of the Wild poliovirus between the countries. He urged countries to strengthen the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy because it was critical in providing data which guided implementation of strategies for polio eradication. He also called upon countries to undertake regular assessments of the performance of surveillance systems, routine immunization, emergency plans and logistical requirements particularly transport and cold chain.
The meeting has brought together 8 members of the Technical Advisory Group, WHO Inter-Country Support Team for Southern and East Africa, WHO Inter-Country Support Team for Central Africa, WHO Regional Office, WHO Representatives, Surveillance Officers and immunization focal points from Angola, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and Zambia.
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