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Fifth GAVI Board Meeting, 21-22 June 2001, London, England
June 2001
Injection
Safety and the Vaccine Fund
Discussion
Improving
the safety of immunization programs is critical to the mission of GAVI;
in relation to other elements of immunization programs, safety deserves
special focus.
A long-term
communication effort, led by WHO, UNICEF and the GAVI Advocacy Task
Force (ATF), will be necessary to increase awareness of the severity of
the problem of unsafe practices and advocate for behavior change both
among health providers and recipients.
The Task
Force for Country Coordination should work on new tools to monitor
safety; as it develops guidelines for the preparation of annual reports
and midterm reviews, safety should be highlighted with special emphasis.
Appropriate
disposal of medical waste is an important element of efforts to improve
the safety of national immunization programs and should be based on the
principle that the "polluter pays". Further research is necessary to
develop environmentally sound, reasonably priced methods for disposing
of medical wastes.
DECISIONS
The Board:
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agreed
that funds for AD syringes should be awarded based on a review of the
injection safety plan component of the country application to GAVI;
countries that have already been approved will be assessed
retroactively;
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requested
that the Working Group communicate this
new policy to eligible countries and that the ATF consider efforts to
gain wider attention for GAVI’s commitment to safety.
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