Bringing together 30 health professionals from The Gambia, the training was aimed at enhancing the capacity of stakeholders in vaccine safety reporting and causality assessments, with a particular focus on COVID-19 vaccines administered to pregnant women. It is part of MRCG at LSHTM’s larger effort to strengthen the capacities of health professionals in the subregion.

Speaking on the significance of the training to the career development of the participants, Dr Amavi Edinam AGBENU, Vaccine Safety Officer for Technical Support to West and Central African Countries at the World Health Organization said: “The Gambian population is the first beneficiary of this training because the country now has experts oriented on how to address the questions that many of us are asking. The second beneficiary is the country’s health system for having such expertise available.”

“For the individuals that attended the course, they can serve their community by participating in the National Experts Committee, by providing technical support to hospitals to improve the management of serious Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI), should any occur, by participating in any other expert advisory body at national or global levels,” she added.

The VacSafe project evaluates COVID-19 vaccine safety among pregnant women aligning with global health priorities and contributes significantly to research on vaccine safety in vulnerable populations.

Dr Alhagie Mutarr Bah, Principal Regulatory Officer at the Medicines Control Agency, noted the importance of this training for healthcare professionals in The Gambia stating:

“The training is timely and will equip healthcare workers with essential skills for conducting thorough causality assessments of adverse events post-vaccination, thus improving their understanding of vaccine safety and refining reporting processes in healthcare delivery.”

Oluwatosin Nkereuwem, Research Coordinator at MRCG and coordinator for the VacSafe Project, highlighted that the training was designed to improve the overall quality and reliability of vaccine safety monitoring systems. She emphasised that this enhancement would boost public confidence in vaccinations and support higher vaccine uptake.

The training was designed to strengthen healthcare practices in The Gambia, ensuring the safety and efficacy of vaccination programs, and ultimately improving public health outcomes.