Divisional Directors;
Secretaries and Directors-General of ministries of health;
Dear Colleagues Members of WHO country teams;
Officials of Extended Programmes on Immunization;
Experts and Partners that are members of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization;
Dear Participants,
On behalf of the World Health Organization, and on my personal behalf, I would like to welcome you to our office in Brazzaville. I thank you very sincerely for your participation in this major forum on three diseases whose importance is known to you all.
May I use this opportunity to wish you a happy and prosperous new year 2007. I strongly wish that the year 2007 will enable us to chart the appropriate courses for controlling infections of haemophilus influenzae type B, streptococcus pneumoniae and yellow fever.
It is not my intention to downplay the many forms of difficulties (technical, financial and operational) encountered in the introduction of new vaccines and the organization of the surveillance of these diseases. Expanding and sustaining activities for controlling these diseases remain a major concern in our context where public health priority is given mainly to other diseases such as poliomyelitis, malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
Given the positive experiences acquired and the good results achieved in our Region, nothing can explain or justify any delay whatsoever in ensuring widespread immunization against haemophilus influenzae type B and pneumococcal infections. Preventing pneumonia and meningitis caused by these germs will be a milestone in achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing infant and child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.
Concerning yellow fever, the recurrence of epidemic in several countries of West and Central Africa despite the existence of an efficacious vaccine since several decades is yet another evidence of the need for us to redouble our control efforts and strengthen regional cooperation in this area. In this regard, the substantial financial support that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization has just mobilized for 12 priority countries of West and Central Africa should prompt us to accelerate yellow fever control in our Region, and no effort should be spared in the target countries to ensure the success of our efforts.
I am convinced that you will find, in this forum that the WHO Regional Office has provided for you, the conditions for appropriate brainstorming on these diseases. You know, more than anyone else, the magnitude and gravity of these diseases. Pneumonia and meningitis resulting from haemophilus influenzae type B and streptococcus pneumoniae kill 1.8 million children aged below five years worldwide, every year, and more than half of these deaths occur in Africa. Yellow fever kills nearly 50% of the people infected in the Region. And yet, efficacious vaccines are available. Routine immunization programmes have proved effective in several countries. For example, administration of the conjugate vaccine has helped eliminate haemophilus influenzae type B infections in the Gambia and reduce by 16% the average mortality from streptococcus pneumoniae infections in children in the Region.
Dear Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Notwithstanding this evidence, considerable progress has been made in controlling these diseases in the Region. The number of countries that have introduced immunization against haemophilus influenzae type B infections in children increased from 2 (Gambia and South Africa) in 2000 to 16 in 2006, thanks to sustained support from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. A surveillance system based on case notification and prompt response has been established in countries.
For my part, I am convinced that the operational framework drawn up by the Regional Committee and the strategies mapped out by my office are an ideal framework for organizing appropriate programmes and interventions in our countries. I therefore urge you to work arduously and relentlessly in these few days to set out the enabling conditions for a clear and rapid success in controlling these diseases.
I wish you fruitful deliberation and full success in your work. On this note, I declare open the Regional Forum on haemophilus influenzae type B and streptococcus pneumoniae infections and yellow fever.
I thank you.