3 May 2016 – A second 4-day workshop to build country capacity to respond to any possible polio outbreak was organized by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean from 24 to 27 April 2016 in Cairo, Egypt. Representatives from ministries of health of the 10 countries of the Region which did not take part in the first workshop attended. The workshop was facilitated by staff from WHO and UNICEF. The first round of training took place in March 2016 and was attended by representatives of 12 countries of the Region. A workshop for national and subnational staff will take place shortly in Yemen as the country was unable to send representatives to either workshop.

With the completion of this workshop 21 countries in the Region have been provided with knowledge and skills to develop national plans to respond to any wild poliovirus importation and/or emergence of vaccine-derived poliovirus. Countries also discussed the requirements and implications of the globally synchronised switch from trivalent oral polio vaccine to bivalent taking place between 17 April and 1 May. 

Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates took part in simulation exercises during the workshop and developed draft national preparedness and response plans following group work sessions. The countries will submit the final version before September 2016 which will be part of the certification documents of 2016. As the world moves ever closer to eradication, Member States of WHO have established mechanisms to immediately respond to any polio outbreak in order to achieve global polio eradication goal in a timely manner. 

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Countries build capacity to respond to any possible polio outbreak in the Region, March 2016