The works of the 30th Intercountry Meeting of National Managers of the Expanded Programme on Immunization and the 17th Intercountry Meeting on Measles/Rubella Control and Elimination commenced today (Sunday) at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Around 145 representatives from 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region have gathered in the meetings during 10 to 13 December 2017. The participants are the leaders of their respective national programmes on Vaccine Preventable Diseases and Immunization, technical experts and programme directors from the partner organizations and donors (WHO, CDC Atlanta, UNICEF, -GAVI, etc.).

The two meetings, which organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the UNICEF and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and in coordination with the Ministry of Health (MOH), aimed at reviewing the progress towards achieving the regional immunization targets, including routine immunization, Measles elimination, Hepatitis B control targets within the context of the Eastern Mediterranean Vaccine Action Plan, briefing the participants on the latest updates for improving immunization programmes, and reviewing countries’ progress in implementation of the national plans and the key actions for strengthening routine immunization, measles/rubella and Hepatitis B control programme.

H.E. Dr. Mohammed Bin Saif Al Hosni, MOH Undersecretary for Health Affairs chaired the opening session. He welcomed the participants and highlighted the key factors that led to the success of immunization programme in Oman. Dr. Al Hosni mentioned that Oman has had very few cases of measles since 1995. The recent National Measles Campaign targeting age group of 20-35 (held 10-16 Sep 2017) aimed at addressing the increased number of measles cases detected thru the national communicable disease surveillance in 2016 and 2017.

It is worth mentioning that this meeting is an opportunity to review the progress towards the regional goals for immunization, challenges and the opportunities faced at each country context and to define and agree on the joint efforts by national teams, donors and partners to bridge the gaps towards the common goals of saving lives caused by vaccine preventable diseases.