15th Meeting of the Regional Certification Commission for the Polio Endgame in the Region of the Americas. Meeting Report. Atlanta, 25-27 October 2022

Abstract

The 15th Meeting of the Regional Certification Commission for the Eradication of Poliomyelitis in the Region of the Americas (RCC) was held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America from 25-27 October 2022. All members of the RCC discussed and approved the validation results and the final report of the meeting. The objectives of the meeting were: meet with the National Poliovirus Containment Coordinators (NPCCs) of the countries that had not received validation of the survey/inventory process of facilities with poliovirus material; review the updated containment reports that were submitted by the countries; meet with representatives of the United States’ domestic polio program and the National Certification Committee (NCC) to discuss the current cVDPV2 outbreak situation in New York, United States of America; review annual reports from countries that did not submit the 2021 Annual Report on time for review during the 14th Meeting; and update the annual report format and review the validation questions. The Regional Certification Commission greatly appreciates the hard work of the NCCs and countries in preparing their reports to be reviewed by the Regional Certification Commission. The Regional Certification Commission would like to thank the Task Force for Global Health, which serves as the United States’ NCC Secretariat, for its kind support in preparing for and convening the meeting and for lending its facilities to the Regional Certification Commission for this meeting. The Regional Certification Commission also recognizes and values the work of PAHO in its ongoing support to the RCC.