The 18th AAVC was held from 6 – 10 November 2023 at the Southern Sun Newlands Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa. The course conveners were Dr Edina Amponsah-Dacosta, A/Prof Benjamin Kagina, and Prof Rudzani Muloiwa, with Prof Gregory Hussey serving in the Senior Advisory role.
Aims of the 18th AAVC
The aim of VACFA’s AAVC is to develop vaccinology expertise for Africa and promote vaccine advocacy across the continent. To this end, the goal of the AAVC is to enhance knowledge on vaccinology among national immunization programme managers, NITAGs, healthcare workers involved in vaccination programs, individuals working in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as basic scientists involved in vaccine-related research within the African continent.
The aims of the 18th AAVC were:
1. To provide participants with essential and up-to-date knowledge on human vaccines.
2. To encourage dialogue about the successes, challenges, and opportunities to improve national immunization programmes in Africa.
3. To provide a forum for NITAG members to share country-specific immunization policymaking experiences and identify areas for collaboration and scientific capacity development.
4. To foster communication and networking among African communities working in the fields of vaccines and immunization.
Highlights from the 18th AAVC
There were several notable highlights during the 18th AAVC:
1. This year, the AAVC received a record 540 applications which is three times more than that received in previous years. This clearly emphasizes the growing demand for this course.
2. Applicants who were not successful were provided with the opportunity to attend the course via Zoom live-streaming. This extended the reach of the course while providing these individuals with insights into the overall purpose of the course, which can only serve to strengthen their applications for subsequent AAVCs. Like their in-person counterparts, online participants demonstrated a strong interest in the course, took ownership, and remained engaged.
3. To foster rich engagement among participants, a think-tank session was introduced for the first time at the AAVC as part of a group exercise. This session was on a topical issue on the determinants of vaccine up-take at community level. Assigned into groups, participants were tasked with applying concepts learned throughout the week in creatively addressing a challenging case study.
4. Faculty members shared latest developments in the vaccine space, shedding light on topical issues in vaccinology including challenges unique to the continent.
5. Guided by VACFA’s Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation Specialist (Ms Chantel Le Fleur-Bellerose), the AAVC implemented a fun and engaging daily evaluation process using Wooclap – an interactive online platform for polls and questionnaires – which allowed for continuous monitoring of the course.
Acknowledgements
The 18th AAVC was made possible through generous independent educational grants from the following partners:
Future plans for the AAVC in 2024
VACFA is encouraged by the continued positive feedback regarding this popular vaccinology course in Africa. The VACFA team will further develop the online pre-course contents with the aim of establishing a dedicated online vaccinology course to extend the reach of the AAVC, given the high demand for the course.
In addition, VACFA is committed to continue partnering with AAVC alumni and partners to strengthen the development of vaccinology expertise in Africa. Together with our partners, we look forward to an improved 19th AAVC in 2024.
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