On November 12th, the Workshop on Vaccination Strategy in BRI Countries and the Preliminary Meeting of the 7th WFPHA Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Public Health jointly organized by the Asia-Pacific Regional Liaison Office of World Federation of Public Health Associations, Public Health Association of New Zealand and Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, was successfully held online.
Walter Ricciardi, the President of World Federation of public Health Associations; Yang Weizhong, the Vice President of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association and the Executive Dean of School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Peking Union Medical College; Liang Xiaofeng, the Vice President of CPMA and the Governing Council member of WFPHA; Luis Eugenio de Souza, the Vice President of WFPHA; Grant Berghan, CEO of Public Health Association of New Zealand;Yoshihiro Takashima, the Coordinator of Expanded Programme on Immunization of Communicable Diseases Division, WHO WPRO; An Zhijie, the Deputy Director of National Immunization Programme of China CDC; Michael Moore, the Past President of WFPHA; Muhammad Ashraf Nizami, the President of Pakistan Medical Association; Mitsuo Isono, the Senior Advisor of Japan International Cooperation Agency; Teo Yik Ying, the Dean of Public Health School of National University of Singapore; Michael Baker, the Professor of Public Health Department of University of Otago; Le Minh DAT, the Program Officer and Researcher of Vietnam Public Health Association; Enkhtuya Byambasuren, Executive Director of the Mongolian Public Health Professionals’ Association; Zhang Lingli, the Deputy Seceretary-General of CPMA; Wang Ling, the the Secretary of Committee for Discipline Inspection of CPMA and many leaders and guests from public health associations attended the conference via video connection.
Unity and cooperation are the key while the vaccines are a weapon to defeat the epidemic. The theme of this conference is "Promote COVID-19 vaccination, jointly maintain public health safety in BRI Countries", aiming to unite the Public Health Associations in BRI countries and promote the construction of a community of common health for mankind.
Walter Ricciardi, the President of WFPHA, delivered an opening speech online
Walter Ricciardi, the President of World Federation of Public Health Associations, said that the vaccines play an important role in preventing the COVID-19. This conference hopes to provide the public health decision makers with effective experiences on the prevention and vaccination of COVID-19.It is hoped that all countries will cooperate sincerely, overcome the difficulties together, and jointly contribute to the health and well-being of the people and global public health security.
Liang Xiaofeng, the Vice President of CPMA and the Governing Council of WFPHA delivered an opening speech online
Liang Xiaofeng, the Vice President of Chinese Preventive Medicine Association and the Governing Council of World Federation of Public Health Associations, said, “As the first country that pledged to make vaccines a global public good, China is taking practical actions to promote fair access to global vaccines.” In face of the coronavirus have seen repeated resurgence and frequent mutations, the situation of prevention and control is becoming more and more complicated. It is hoped that all member countries in the region can strengthen cooperation and play their due role in the fight against the epidemic.
Grant Berghan, the CEO of PHANZ, gave the opening speech online
Grant Berghan, the CEO of Public Health Association of New Zealand, said that this meeting is a testimony to the strengthening of cooperation between WFPHA, CPMA and PHANZ. He hopes to witness outstanding public health professionals from all over the world to build consensus and overcome the epidemic.
Yoshihiro Takashima, Coordinator of Expanded Programme on Immunization of Communicable Diseases Division of WHO WPRO, gave a report
Yoshihiro Takashima, the Coordinator of Expanded Programme on Immunization of Communicable Diseases Division of WHO WPRO, first briefly described the immunization experience in the Western Pacific Region, especially the progress made in the prevention and control of polio, measles, maternal and infant tetanus and hepatitis B. Then he introduced a ten-year strategic framework proposed by the Western Pacific Region in 2018. He believes that combined with past experience, this strategic framework can be integrated into the Western Pacific Region's response to the COVID-19. He stated in the report that he hopes that countries will work together to strengthen regional cooperation, establish a linkage mechanism, and promote vaccination and vaccine safety monitoring in the region. The goal of achieving a 90% vaccination rate will soon be achieved.
Michael Moore, the Past President of WFPHA, gave a report
The Past President of the World Federation of Public Health Associations, Michael Moore shared Australia's immunization strategy for emerging infectious diseases. He pointed out that since Australia does not have an independent center for disease control and prevention, prevention is a top priority. However, the current vaccination is not satisfactory, especially the young people between the ages of 20 and 24 are not willing to be vaccinated. "We must continue to communicate and disclose some effective evidence to the public so that they can accept common sense of vaccination."
An Zhijie, Deputy Director of National Immunization Programme of China CDC，made a report
An Zhijie, the deputy director of the National Immunization Programme of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, analyzed the progress of China's new crown vaccination and real-world effects. As of November 9, 1.1billion people in China have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, accounting for 78% of the total population.Currently, the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine are being extensively and truly monitored. The study found that for severely ill patients, full-scale vaccination can provide 100% protection, and for patients who switch from mild to severe, the risk can be reduced by 88%.With the vaccine cooperation among BRI countries, the supply of vaccines is getting higher, and there will be more data to support the effects of vaccines based on the real world.
Mitsuo Isono, the Senior Advisor of Japan International Cooperation Agency, made a report
Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health Department of University of Otago, made a report
Michael Baker, the Professor of Public Health Department of University of Otago, put forward his own thoughts on the COVID-19 prevention and vaccination strategy in New Zealand from four aspects: epidemic elimination strategy, vaccination popularization, changes in health measures, and social security.
Muhammad Ashraf Nizami, the President of Pakistan Medical Association,made a report
Muhammad Ashraf Nizami, the President of the Pakistan Medical Association, introduced Pakistan’s COVID-19 prevention and vaccination strategies, saying that China has unreservedly helped them from protective facilities, protective devices, and vaccine projects.
Teo Yik Ying, Dean of Public Health School of National University of Singapore,made the report
“At present, Singapore has launched a National Vaccination Programme, and even provides mobile vaccination services for some elderly or bedridden people.” Teo Yik Ying, Dean of the School of Public Health of the National University of Singapore,introduced that Singapore is using mobile digital technology to track people's vaccination status. If the public is not vaccinated, they cannot enter the public places.
Luis Eugenio de Souza, the Vice President of WFPHA,made the report
Luis Eugenio de Souza, the Vice President of World Federation of Public Health Associations, said that vaccine research and development can bring a window of opportunity to most developing countries such as Brazil. There is an urgent need to formulate some strategies to seek international partners to jointly implement global funds and cooperation plans for vaccine research and development and production.
Le Minh DAT, the Program Officer and Researcher of Vietnam Public Health Association, made a report
Le Minh DAT, the program officer and researcher of the Vietnam Public Health Association, said that since the COVID-19 virus broke out worldwide, there have been four waves of epidemics in Vietnam. At present, Vietnam has introduced a series of laws and regulations at the national level to prevent and control the epidemic, and at the same time promote vaccination at full speed.
Grant Berghan, CEO of PHANZ, hosted the panel discussion
During the panel discussion, Yang Weizhong, the Vice President of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association and the Executive Dean of School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Peking Union Medical College; Michael Moore, the Past President of WFPHA; Luis Eugenio de Souza, the Vice President of WFPHA; Muhammad Ashraf Nizami, the President of Pakistan Medical Association and Huang Yangmu, the Deputy Dean of Global Health Department of School of Public Health, Peking University conducted in-depth discussion on the topic of “How can efforts be made to improve the accessibility and fairness of COVID-19 vaccines in BRI countries, and to promote the fair and equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide?” Yang Weizhong said that non-drug public health measures and vaccination have played a vital role in global epidemic prevention and control. However, the coverage of the COVID-19 vaccine in different countries varies greatly. Vaccines are a global public health product, and China's COVID-19 vaccine has been recognized by more and more countries. He suggested that the World Health Organization and the World Federation of Public Health Associations give full play to the organization and coordination role, combining distribution mechanisms, production capacity and many other factors to make the world's public health resources, including the COVID-19 vaccine, more equitable and balanced.
Mitsuo Isono, the Senior Advisor of Japan International Cooperation Agency, Teo Yik Ying, Dean of Public Health School of National University of Singapore, Le Minh DAT, the program officer and researcher of the Vietnam Public Health Association, Cao Lei, the Deputy Director of Immunization Service Guidance and Evaluation Office of National Immunization Program of China CDC shared and exchanged their views on the topic of “How to improve the capacity of immunization services during the current massive vaccination?” Teo Yik Ying said that due to Singapore's special geographical location, health resources are relatively easy to coordinate, and vaccination work is relatively smooth. The large-scale COVID-19 vaccination work is actually related to the country's primary health diagnosis and treatment system. He hopes that the international community can help low-income countries obtain basic public health resources.
The Past President of the World Federation of Public Health Associations, Michael Moore; Nikki Turner, the professor of General Practice in the University of Auckland and Zhou Lifeng, the Executive Councilor of PHANZ discussed the topic “How does massive COVID-19 vaccination affect the outcome of the pandemic?”, starting from their own practice. Nikki Turner and Zhou Lifeng said that highly effective vaccines and high vaccination rates can help us control the epidemic. At the same time, we must also work hard to contain the mutation of the virus. In addition, they reiterated the importance of “fairness” in vaccination in terms of health, social and economic results, as well as by race, age, and poverty.
Yang Weizhong, the Vice President of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, presided over the working meeting of the Asia-Pacific Regional Liaison Office
