20 October 2004
MUSCAT -- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has accredited Oman as the training centre for the global training network on vaccine management for a period of two years following its successful completion of two training courses on vaccine store management. Reassessment is required for continuation of accreditation at the end of the two-year period.
The accreditation was conferred following the conclusion of the second global vaccine store management training course jointly held by Ministry of Health (MoH) and WHO here last week.
"The performance of the MoH team has been extremely impressive. The manner in which the workshop sessions were conducted is evidence enough of the systematic planning and dedicated effort extended by the team of trainers from the Department of Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control, MoH," observed Dr Umit Kartoglu, technical officer from WHO headquarters, and Dr Hande Harmanci from the Marmara University in Turkey who have been involved in designing the vaccine management training course material.
Dr Kartoglu stated that except for one new session on wastage of vaccines that was conducted by him, the training sessions were entirely facilitated by the MoH officials.
Through group discussions and presentations the workshop was structured to achieve a maximum amount of trainee participation in the coursework. The five-day training course was conducted in a manner that ensured a positive and safe learning climate for the participants.
As many as 20 EPI personnel from 18 countries participated in the training course designed to improve vaccine management practises from the arrival to the point of use in all countries.
While Dr Kartoglu and Dr Harmanci participated as training supervisors, Mojtaba Haghou, technical officer at the WHO's regional office of the eastern Mediterranean region, and Molari Elisabetta, Unicef, Copenhagen, were observers for the training course. The training saw representations from Switzerland, Turkey, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Russia, Bulgaria and Nepal among other countries.
While commending Oman on its recent achievement, Dr El Fatih El Samani, WHO representative in Oman, said the country has an unbeatable track record in maintaining a high population coverage rate by quality vaccine services delivered through a well-managed EPI system.
"This achievement will further boost the country's global recognition in the field of vaccination services as well as improve its training capacity."
"An effective management system that includes logistics and vaccine cold chain is the backbone of the immunisation programme. We, therefore, need to ensure that potent and adequate vaccines reach children and women who need them. This entails a variety of disciplines and requires tremendous effort and competent human resources. Not only have you to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills, but your commitment to the programme is of paramount importance as well," Dr El Samani added.
"The main objective of this training course has been to enable the participants to tackle the managerial problems persisting in their vaccination programme, to give them a vision as to how to expand their programme to increase access and to cater to introduction of new vaccines, and to set up a control system to ensure that all vaccines reach the recipients in optimal condition," said Dr Salah Al Awaidy, director of the communicable disease surveillance and control department.
Many countries in the eastern Mediterranean region and other parts of the world have done excellent work in Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).
Oman is one of them.
"Immunisation coverage levels have increased substantially from 10 per cent in 1981 to over 98 per cent for all the 10 antigens incorporated in the EPI schedule. This increase in coverage has brought about a correspondingly marked decline in all the EPI target diseases and the subsequent under five mortality," said Dr Ali Ja'afar, director-general of health affairs at the Ministry of Health.
Dr Ja'afar attributed the EPI success in Oman to "the commitment of healthcare staff, the excellent health infrastructure to deliver the vaccine to the children and of course the system of cold chain to preserve the potency of the vaccine until it reaches the beneficiary."
Last year, the Oman Primary Vaccine Store became the first to meet the new WHO-Unicef criteria for effective vaccine store management. The store achieved over 80 per cent score in all the ten criteria laid down by WHO/Unicef in their effective vaccine store management initiative. On the final day of the training course, a field visit was arranged to the primary vaccine store and the Central Medical Store in Muscat. The site served as a successful learning model for the participants of the training course, reinforcing the new learning for adoption of management and training practices that fully protect vaccines in primary and intermediate vaccine stores.
Participants unanimously agreed that the training was a good learning experience. Abdul Vakil, a national EPI trainer from Afghanistan, found the course content extremely useful to his work. "I attained better knowledge into many aspects that need to be adhered to while working towards an effective vaccine store."
For Swatantra Joshi, a technician from Nepal, the course provided him greater insight into calculating storage capacity, cold room temperature inspection and the importance of storing vaccines at the correct temperature, which he intends to incorporate at his workplace.
MUSCAT -- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has accredited Oman as the training centre for the global training network on vaccine management for a period of two years following its successful completion of two training courses on vaccine store management. Reassessment is required for continuation of accreditation at the end of the two-year period.
The accreditation was conferred following the conclusion of the second global vaccine store management training course jointly held by Ministry of Health (MoH) and WHO here last week.
"The performance of the MoH team has been extremely impressive. The manner in which the workshop sessions were conducted is evidence enough of the systematic planning and dedicated effort extended by the team of trainers from the Department of Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control, MoH," observed Dr Umit Kartoglu, technical officer from WHO headquarters, and Dr Hande Harmanci from the Marmara University in Turkey who have been involved in designing the vaccine management training course material.
Dr Kartoglu stated that except for one new session on wastage of vaccines that was conducted by him, the training sessions were entirely facilitated by the MoH officials.
Through group discussions and presentations the workshop was structured to achieve a maximum amount of trainee participation in the coursework. The five-day training course was conducted in a manner that ensured a positive and safe learning climate for the participants.
As many as 20 EPI personnel from 18 countries participated in the training course designed to improve vaccine management practises from the arrival to the point of use in all countries.
While Dr Kartoglu and Dr Harmanci participated as training supervisors, Mojtaba Haghou, technical officer at the WHO's regional office of the eastern Mediterranean region, and Molari Elisabetta, Unicef, Copenhagen, were observers for the training course. The training saw representations from Switzerland, Turkey, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Russia, Bulgaria and Nepal among other countries.
While commending Oman on its recent achievement, Dr El Fatih El Samani, WHO representative in Oman, said the country has an unbeatable track record in maintaining a high population coverage rate by quality vaccine services delivered through a well-managed EPI system.
"This achievement will further boost the country's global recognition in the field of vaccination services as well as improve its training capacity."
"An effective management system that includes logistics and vaccine cold chain is the backbone of the immunisation programme. We, therefore, need to ensure that potent and adequate vaccines reach children and women who need them. This entails a variety of disciplines and requires tremendous effort and competent human resources. Not only have you to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills, but your commitment to the programme is of paramount importance as well," Dr El Samani added.
"The main objective of this training course has been to enable the participants to tackle the managerial problems persisting in their vaccination programme, to give them a vision as to how to expand their programme to increase access and to cater to introduction of new vaccines, and to set up a control system to ensure that all vaccines reach the recipients in optimal condition," said Dr Salah Al Awaidy, director of the communicable disease surveillance and control department.
Many countries in the eastern Mediterranean region and other parts of the world have done excellent work in Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).
Oman is one of them.
"Immunisation coverage levels have increased substantially from 10 per cent in 1981 to over 98 per cent for all the 10 antigens incorporated in the EPI schedule. This increase in coverage has brought about a correspondingly marked decline in all the EPI target diseases and the subsequent under five mortality," said Dr Ali Ja'afar, director-general of health affairs at the Ministry of Health.
Dr Ja'afar attributed the EPI success in Oman to "the commitment of healthcare staff, the excellent health infrastructure to deliver the vaccine to the children and of course the system of cold chain to preserve the potency of the vaccine until it reaches the beneficiary."
Last year, the Oman Primary Vaccine Store became the first to meet the new WHO-Unicef criteria for effective vaccine store management. The store achieved over 80 per cent score in all the ten criteria laid down by WHO/Unicef in their effective vaccine store management initiative. On the final day of the training course, a field visit was arranged to the primary vaccine store and the Central Medical Store in Muscat. The site served as a successful learning model for the participants of the training course, reinforcing the new learning for adoption of management and training practices that fully protect vaccines in primary and intermediate vaccine stores.
Participants unanimously agreed that the training was a good learning experience. Abdul Vakil, a national EPI trainer from Afghanistan, found the course content extremely useful to his work. "I attained better knowledge into many aspects that need to be adhered to while working towards an effective vaccine store."
For Swatantra Joshi, a technician from Nepal, the course provided him greater insight into calculating storage capacity, cold room temperature inspection and the importance of storing vaccines at the correct temperature, which he intends to incorporate at his workplace.
© Times of Oman 2004
