NISH supports five-day Capacity Building Workshop for NITAG members

The NISH partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Taskforce for Global Health (TFGH), the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (US CDC), as well as the Ugandan National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (UNITAG) to convene a 5-day workshop at the Speke Resort and Conference Centre, in Kampala, Uganda, from 6 – 10 February 2023. The overall objective of the workshop was to strengthen the capacity of NITAG members from Botswana, Liberia, South Sudan and Uganda in evidence-based immunization decision-making. Among the key topics covered at the workshop were the roles, responsibilities and mode of functioning of NITAGS, vaccinology concepts relevant for decision-making, evidence searches for decision-making, and the Evidence to Recommendation (EtR) process. A total of 43 NITAG members participated in this workshop.

The workshop kicked off after the official opening remarks delivered by the WHO Representative to Uganda, Dr Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam. The format of the workshop included didactic and interactive group work sessions. NITAG members worked in their country groups with rich opportunities for cross-pollination across the participating countries throughout the workshop. Sessions were facilitated by members from WHO, UNITAG, US CDC, TFGH, and NISH. The facilitators from NISH were Prof Benjamin Kagina, Ms Chantel Le Fleur-Bellerose, Prof Gregory Hussey, Dr Julie Copelyn, Ms Susanne Noll, and Dr Edina Amponsah-Dacosta. The Global NITAG Network (GNN) African Representative and Chair of the NISH Management Board, Dr. Amina Abdul-One Muhammed was also in attendance, and chaired some sessions and co-facilitated group work. Overall, the workshop was a resounding success! NITAG members demonstrated a high-level of committment to the training process and found the content to be directly benefitial and relevant to their work. A key goal of NISH is to improve the capacity of NITAGs in vaccinology, evidence-informed decision-making, mathematical modelling, health economics, design thinking and health systems.