The inter-university diploma course in vaccinology is offered in French through an online platform by the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University Cadi Ayyad in Marrakech, Morocco.

The aim of the course is to provide an integrated vision of vaccinology to acquire e.g. fundamental and practical knowledge on vaccines, disease epidemiology, infectious diseases and their prevention, vaccine development and policies, and delivery of vaccines to the respective target populations.

The course is targeted at scientists, medical doctors, pharmacists, and other health professionals involved in e.g. vaccinology research or clinical development, program design and delivery of vaccines, disease surveillance,  evaluation of immunisation programmes, and pharmacovigilance. The course was attended by 33 participants from the following countries: Burkina Faso, Guinea, Morocco and the Republic of Congo.

NESI was invited by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy to give 2 presentations: (1) Type of vaccines and (2) Hepatitis B vaccines.

Flyer DIU Marrakech Vaccinologie 2021

The Erasmus+ Mundus Joint Master Degree “Leading International Vaccinology Education” (LIVE) was launched September 2016. LIVE is a two years Master’s programme between five European universities: Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France (coordinating university); Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain; Universitat de Barcelona, Spain; University of Antwerp, Belgium; Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne, France. The programme is supported by a worldwide network of 31 international associated partners and 16 supporting partners. NESI is supporting partner to the LIVE programme.

A total of 25 students are currently enrolled in the fifth LIVE promotion, called the “Françoise Barré-Sinoussi” Master LIVE Promotion 2020-22.

NESI was invited to give a lecture on 21 September 2021 at the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, during the third semester of the LIVE programme in the session on “Communication on vaccines and public health”. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lecture was delivered online. Topics presented included: History and rationale of vaccination schedules; role of the NITAGs; and Immunisation Agenda 2030 (IA2030).

From the fourth LIVE promotion, the “Maurice Hilleman” Master LIVE Promotion 2019-21, two students successfully completed their 6-months internship with NESI (see internship projects).

The vaccinology course for health professionals was organised by the East Africa Centre for Vaccines and Immunization (ECAVI) from 21 to 25 June 2021 in Kampala, Uganda. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course was delivered online.

The aim of the vaccinology course was to equip healthcare professionals with up-to-date knowledge and skills on vaccines and immunisation in order to enable them deal with current and emerging challenges related to the immunisation programme.

The format of the course included: formal lectures; case studies; debate and discussion; and presentations by participants.

Upon completion of the course, participants were able to:

• Understand the concept and principles of vaccination
• Describe how vaccines work and their side effects
• Describe indications, contraindications, efficacy, and safety of vaccines according to WHO criteria
• Identify, manage and report adverse events following immunizations
• Identify ways to improve communication with patients, parents, and caregivers about vaccination
• Identify best practices for implementing or improving immunization programs
• Understand how to link and partner with other stakeholders involved in vaccination and immunization
• Champion and advocate for uptake and promotion of immunization

A total of 107 participants attended the course online. The participants came from the following 13 countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Guatemala, Malaysia, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan.

NESI was invited by ECAVI to chair 2 sessions and to give the following lectures: (1) Overview of vaccine-preventable diseases and their epidemiology; (2) Human Papillomavirus vaccines. 

To address these changes and to ensure the smooth implementation of immunisation programmes, EPI managers and staff require skills in problem solving, priority setting, decision-making, planning and managing human, financial and material resources as well as monitoring the implementation, supervision and evaluation of services.

To understand the current training needs and preferred training platform in order to develop strategies to guide the work of EPI capacity building within the WHO African Region in the coming years, an online Training Needs Assessment was conducted at the national and provincial level in nine priority countries. The selected countries included: Chad, Cote d´Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Gabon, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, South Sudan and Togo.

The results of the Training Needs Assessment have been published in the “Pan African Medical Journal”:

Masresha B, Dochez C, Bwaka A, Eshetu M, Paluku G, Mihigo R. 2021. Immunization program training needs in 9 countries in the African Region. Pan African Medical Journal 39: 41.