Distinguished participants and colleagues;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Welcome to the 24th meeting of the Technical Advisory Group — or TAG — on Immunization and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the Western Pacific Region.
It gives me great pride to see the accomplishments Member States have made in recent years — and especially since your last meeting a year ago.
As you all know, in October 2014 the Regional Committee endorsed the Regional Framework for Implementation of the Global Vaccine Action Plan in the Western Pacific.
By adopting the framework, Member States have shown their commitment once again to achieving specific goals and strengthening national immunization programmes with WHO support.
The results speak for themselves.
The Region is making substantial progress towards implementing the Polio Eradication Endgame Strategy. I am confident the Region will meet the global targets to introduce the IPV vaccine by the end of 2015 and to switch to bivalent oral polio vaccine by April 2016.
In March, three more countries — Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia and Japan — were verified as having achieved the interruption of endemic measles virus transmission for at least 36 months. That brings the total number of verified countries and areas in the Region to seven — which is a strong start.
Back in 2013, the Regional Committee endorsed a resolution to reach the goal of less than 1% hepatitis B chronic infection prevalence among 5-year-old children by 2017. I am happy to report that we are ahead of schedule.
American Samoa was verified in 2014, bringing to 12 the number of countries and areas that have already reached this goal. Five additional countries and areas have likely met the goal but still must be verified.
My congratulations go to all of these countries and areas for a job well done.
In the Philippines this year, a validation survey to demonstrate the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus was conducted in nearly all of the country. Immediately following the TAG, Cambodia will also undertake a validation survey to demonstrate maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination.
Meanwhile, the Lao People's Democratic Republic is using support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to conduct an immunization campaign to protect 1.5 million children against Japanese encephalitis. The Lao Government plans to include the vaccine in its routine immunization programme following the campaign.
Again, my congratulations go to those governments for taking decisive action to protect their people from these deadly diseases.
Overall, Member States are moving rapidly towards evidence-based vaccine introduction, prioritizing vaccines for high-burden diseases and finding financial mechanisms to make it possible.
In the past year, Cambodia and Solomon Islands introduced pneumococcal conjugate vaccine into their routine immunization schedules, tackling the most common cause of childhood pneumonia.
Solomon Islands — which has the third highest estimated rate of cervical cancer in the Region — started a human papillomavirus infection vaccine demonstration project.
And this month Kiribati — which has the second highest estimated rotavirus mortality in the Region — is set to introduce rotavirus vaccine.
As you know, the Regional Alliance for National Regulatory Authority for Vaccines in the Western Pacific provides assistance to vaccine-procuring countries to build sustainable regulatory systems. I want to congratulate the Government of Viet Nam for their achievement in making their National Regulatory Authority reach full functions, as per WHO recommendations.
TAG, of course, plays an important role in guiding these efforts. I would like to thank each and every one of you for helping the Expanded Programme on Immunization to be a vibrant and innovative force in the Western Pacific Region.
Let's work together to bring the benefits of strong national immunization programmes to all the 1.8 billion people in the Western Pacific Region – no matter where they live or how limited their resources are.
I look forward to hearing your recommendations and wish you all a pleasant stay in Manila.
Thank you.