Supporting immunisation programs and policy in Vietnam

Health officials and immunisation experts from Vietnam and Australia recently came together for a two-day immunisation program and policy workshop held in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

The workshop – facilitated by Australia’s National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), in collaboration with the University of Sydney Vietnam Institute – provided a platform for cross-country information exchange and explored potential opportunities to enhance immunisation policy decision-making in Vietnam.

The aims of the workshop were to:

• assess the needs of the Vietnam National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG)
• explore the strengths of the NITAG and its opportunities in relation to upcoming decision-making on the introduction of new vaccines – such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and pneumococcal vaccines – to the Expanded Program on Immunization in Vietnam
• collaboratively build the operations and technical capacity of the NITAG secretariat to support the NITAG’s capacity to contribute to strengthening immunisation policy and programs in Vietnam.

Professor Kristine Macartney, Director of NCIRS, said:

Supporting our colleagues in neighbouring countries in their work to strengthen their immunisation programs to protect their communities sits at the heart of what we aim to achieve in our Global Health team and with our other Australian partners in the Australian Regional Immunisation Alliance (ARIA).

Immunisation policy and program workshops such as this provide an important vehicle to exchange knowledge and expertise and to provide immunisation-related support, alongside other key partners, to countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

Insights from the Vietnam workshop will form the foundation for the next phase of our activity, which will extend over the coming two years and include further workshops, capacity-building activities and technical exchanges to support Vietnamese leadership in immunisation as they introduce new life-saving vaccines.

More information on this project will be published on the NCIRS website in the coming months.

This workshop/activity was made possible through funding and support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.