Wellcome to fund establishment of African NITAG Support Hub at UCT 

27 Jul 2021 | By NISH
Portrait of a African boy with mask
27 Jul 2021 | By NISH

The Vaccines for Africa Initiative (VACFA) at the University of Cape Town received a grant from Wellcome Trust to establish a regional support hub for National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) in the WHO Afria Region.  

National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) provide evidence-informed recommendations on vaccines and immunisation to their country's Ministry of Health. NITAGs are integral to country ownership of immunisation programmes, a core principle of the World Health Organisation's Immunization Agenda 2030. A significant challenge facing NITAGs in the WHO Africa region is the need for more scientific and technical support in evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM).

VACFA conducted a scoping exercise in 2019/2020 to evaluate the feasibility of establishing a regional support hub, including literature reviews, online surveys, and consultative workshops. Key partners in the scoping exercise were the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Africa Centre for Evidence and Cochrane South Africa. The results included stakeholder identification, NITAG needs and challenges, types of support available to NITAGs, as well as a hub's sustainability, governance, and operating models. Wellcome granted the resulting project proposal and funding application in 2021.

The aim of the NITAGs Support Hub (NISH) is to strengthen the effectiveness of NITAGs with respect to EIDM. Working closely with the WHO, NISH will contribute to the strengthening of national immunisation programmes (NIPs) in the WHO Africa region. NISH will leverage the University of Cape Town's infrastructure and strategic partnerships to ensure ongoing EIDM support. The mandate of NISH is to support NITAGs in the WHO Africa region through training, scientific services and supporting research in areas with limited local evidence to guide EIDM for vaccines and immunisation. 

The project aligns with critical global, regional, and local frameworks, policies, and mandates, such as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good health and wellbeing; the World Health Organisation (WHO) Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030); the business case for WHO immunisation activities on the African continent 2018–2030; the mandates of NITAGs and the external environment in the context of the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) and the social, political, and economic determinants of health.

NISH is a project of Vaccines for Africa Initiative (VACFA), located at the University of Cape Town School of Public Health & Family Medicine. The five-year grant began in July 2021; the project leads are Principal Investigator (PI) Dr Benjamin Kagina and Co-PIs Professor Gregory Hussey and Professor Rudzani Muloiwa. Dr Benjamin is a Senior Researcher and Co-Director of VACFA. The NISH team comprises key personnel to oversee the project implementation; consultants will complement the team's work.