Al Gunaid Magid, Lami Faris, Jarour Najwa
Polio and Immunization Team, Global Health Development/Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network, Amman, Jordan.
Department of Community and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2019 Oct 29;5(4):e14664. doi: 10.2196/14664.
The many challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean region put the involved countries at risk of polio transmission and affect their ability to meet progress targets in eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases. The Global Health Development (GHD) and Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) are working together on the project "Strengthening sustainable public health capacity in the Eastern Mediterranean region for polio eradication and routine immunization activities" with an overall goal of improving routine immunization, eradicating poliovirus, and controlling/eliminating or eradicating other vaccine-preventable diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The aim of this manuscript is to describe the project and the achievements of GHD/EMPHNET over the last 3 years (2016-2018) to build effective surveillance and immunization systems in the Eastern Mediterranean region through the development of a sustainable and competent public health system to eradicate polio and control/eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases. This project assists the targeted Eastern Mediterranean region countries to build effective surveillance and immunization systems in an effort to expand their capacities to eradicate polio and control/eliminate other vaccine-preventable diseases. The project is streamlined with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Strategic Framework for Global Immunization 2016-2020, and the Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013-2018. The project also supports the Global Health Security Agenda by focusing on efforts to accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats. Project activities were designed to respond to countries' needs and assist them in building their institutional and workforce capacity to effectively plan, implement, and evaluate activities to eradicate polio and strengthen routine immunization activities. The project activities covered a set of areas including surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis and other vaccine-preventable diseases, family and community engagement, workforce capacity building, improvement of data quality, management and use of information systems, use of polio assets to control/eliminate other vaccine-preventable diseases, support of countries to develop national strategies, piloting of innovative initiatives, program evaluation and accountability, and immunization strengthening. The project adopts the Global Polio Eradication Initiative strategies for assisting countries to strengthen routine immunization services, maintain highly sensitive acute flaccid paralysis surveillance, and sustain polio eradication functions.
东地中海区域面临的诸多挑战使相关国家面临脊髓灰质炎传播风险，并影响其实现消除疫苗可预防疾病进展目标的能力。全球卫生发展组织（GHD）和东地中海公共卫生网络（EMPHNET）正在共同开展“加强东地中海区域可持续公共卫生能力以根除脊髓灰质炎和开展常规免疫活动”项目，总体目标是改善东地中海区域的常规免疫、根除脊髓灰质炎病毒以及控制/消除或根除其他疫苗可预防疾病。本手稿的目的是描述该项目以及GHD/EMPHNET在过去3年（2016 - 2018年）通过建立可持续且有能力的公共卫生系统以根除脊髓灰质炎和控制/消除疫苗可预防疾病，从而在东地中海区域建立有效监测和免疫体系方面所取得的成就。该项目协助目标东地中海区域国家建立有效的监测和免疫体系，以努力扩大其根除脊髓灰质炎和控制/消除其他疫苗可预防疾病的能力。该项目与全球根除脊髓灰质炎行动、疾病控制与预防中心2016 - 2020年全球免疫战略框架以及2013 - 2018年脊髓灰质炎根除及终局战略计划保持一致。该项目还通过专注于加速实现一个免受传染病威胁的安全世界的努力来支持全球卫生安全议程。项目活动旨在满足各国需求，并协助它们建设机构和劳动力能力，以有效规划、实施和评估根除脊髓灰质炎及加强常规免疫活动的各项行动。项目活动涵盖了一系列领域，包括急性弛缓性麻痹和其他疫苗可预防疾病的监测、家庭和社区参与、劳动力能力建设、数据质量提升、信息系统的管理和使用、利用脊髓灰质炎相关资源控制/消除其他疫苗可预防疾病、支持各国制定国家战略、试点创新举措、项目评估与问责以及免疫强化。该项目采用全球根除脊髓灰质炎行动的策略，协助各国加强常规免疫服务、维持高度敏感的急性弛缓性麻痹监测以及维持脊髓灰质炎根除职能。
