Mexico City, May 16, 2024 (PAHO) - The Regional Meeting 2024 of the Severe Acute Respiratory Infections Network (SARInet) and the Network for the Evaluation of Vaccine Effectiveness in Latin America and the Caribbean - Influenza (REVELAC-i) concludes after three days of intense working sessions. This event highlights advances in surveillance and response to epidemics and pandemics caused by respiratory viruses in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The meeting, coordinated by the Department of Health Emergencies (PHE) the Special Program Comprehensive Immunization (CIM) of the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), was attended by 195 professionals, including epidemiologists, laboratory and immunization program specialists from the Ministries of Health of 36 countries and territories of the Americas.
During the meeting, participants reviewed the progress and challenges of the SARInet and REVELAC-i networks, discussed the integration of other respiratory viruses into influenza surveillance, assessed the level of pandemic preparedness in the region and shared lessons learned in responding to avian influenza outbreaks. Throughout the sessions, the importance of strengthening coordination between sectors and levels of government, improving the quality and completeness of surveillance data, and strengthening our ability to translate scientific evidence to decision-makers was highlighted.
Marc Rondy, PAHO's regional advisor on epidemiology of diseases with epidemic and pandemic potential, emphasized that “the SARInet and REVELAC-i 2024 Regional Meeting was a key moment for the members of these networks to reflect on the achievements of the last 10 years and to jointly define the way forward. During these three days, country experiences were shared through presentations, experts debated in interactive round tables and group work was carried out on more specific topics. SARInet and REVELAC came out of this week even stronger and ready to face the future challenges posed by respiratory viruses in the Americas”.
Learn more about the work of the SARInet plus Network and REVELAC-i.
