Current issues in polio eradication in BC and beyond

In this talk, the presenters will: • Describe current policy issues in the BC polio immunization and surveillance programs and risks highlighted by the recent NYS case • Describe the current processes and challenges of laboratory diagnostic testing and surveillance strategies • Describe the current issues for the polio eradication “endgame”, including update on the status of polio eradication and challenges related to achieving eradication as per the Polio Eradication Strategy 2022-2026: Delivering on a promise Presenters: Dr. Monika Naus is the Medical Director of the Immunization Programs & Vaccine Preventable Diseases Service at BC Centre for Disease Control and Professor in the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health. Her public health career focus has been in communicable diseases, with a further focus in immunization and vaccine preventable diseases. She has served as member and as chair of the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization, Canadian Immunization Committee, and various other groups. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada and of the American College of Preventive Medicine. Dr. Agatha Jassem is a Clinical Microbiologist and the Program Head of the Virology Lab at the BC Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Jassem oversees diagnostic testing and her research focuses on evaluating new strategies for detecting and charactering viruses and viral exposures. Dr. Arlene King is an internationally recognized expert in public health, immunization, communicable disease prevention and control, pandemic and emergency preparedness. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, medical specialist in public health and preventive medicine and is an advisor and consultant in public health and preventive medicine. At a global level, she has served as the Chair of Regional Certification Commission (RCC) for the Polio Endgame in the Region of the Americas/PAHO since 2014 and is a member of the WHO Global Commission for the Certification of Polio Eradication (GCC). She also is Chair of the GCC [Poliovirus] Containment Working Group (CWG), member of the WHO African Region Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (ARCC) and member of the Technical Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization for the Americas/PAHO. In Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she served as the Executive Medical Director, COVID-19 Immunization Strategy, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and as a Medical Health Officer, Fraser Regional Health Authority, British Columbia (BC) in support of the regional pandemic emergency response. Dr. King led Ontario’s public health sector as the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) from 2009 to 2014.

Mediasite Presenter

6/27/2023 7:00:00 PM