Tenth Meeting of the South-East Asia Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (SEA-RCCPE), Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

Overview

The World-Health-Assembly-endorsed global ‘Polio Eradication & Endgame Strategic Plan 2013- 2018’ (Endgame Plan) contains ‘certification and containment’ as one of its four key objectives. In view of this strategic approach, the continued risk of wild poliovirus (WPV) importation from an infected area or country and the close monitoring of the potential vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) emergence after the global switch from trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (bOPV) in April 2016, it is considered critical that the South-East Asia (SEA) Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (RCCPE) meets on a regular basis to review annual progress reports from all countries. In this context the 10th meeting of the SEA-RCCPE was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar from 23 to 24 November 2017 with the following objectives:

1. to review reports from each Member State reporting on maintaining polio-free status, as per requirements of the Endgame Plan;
2. to review the implementation status of the recommendations made at the 9th meeting of the SEA-RCCPE;
3. to review national and regional risk assessments in order to highlight gaps in levels of immunity and quality of surveillance at national and sub-national levels;
4. to review reports from all countries on compliance with poliovirus type 2 laboratory containment requirements in line with the switch from tOPV to bOPV in April 2016;
5. to update the Global Certification Commission (GCC) on the polio-free certification status of the South-East Asia Region.