Final Report: Technical Advisory Group on Vaccine-preventable Diseases (TAG) XXIII Meeting

The XXIII Meeting of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Vaccine‐preventable Diseases of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) was held in Varadero, Cuba on 1-3 July 2015.The slogan for the meeting was “Bye-bye rubella! Let’s go for more!”, selected in recognition of the recent certification of the regional elimination of rubella and Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS). The objectives of this meeting were to present the regional adaptation of the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), to review progress on several disease elimination and control initiatives and to issue recommendations to address the many challenges faced by national immunization programs in the Americas. 

This XXIII Meeting of the TAG was different from past meetings in many ways. The first was that this year’s TAG was the first regional immunization meeting of its size and magnitude to be hosted in Cuba. The second was that it was the first TAG to be presided by the newly elected TAG President, Dr. Figueroa. Last but not least, this XXIII TAG Meeting was the first time the Regional Immunization Action Plan (RIAP) was officially presented to the TAG and to all PAHO Member States.