The Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN) recently convened a highly successful project meeting in Accra, Ghana, marking nine months of progress on its three-year, US$10 million Background Rates of Adverse Events for Vaccine Evaluation in Africa (BRAVE) project.
This important initiative, funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), aims to establish reliable background rates for adverse events of special interest (AESIs) within African populations. These rates will provide a critical foundation for safety assessment following the introduction of vaccines, such as those for diseases like Lassa fever. A further core project objective is to secure sustainable, long-term impacts through the development of robust scientific infrastructure and the enhancement of local vaccine safety surveillance capabilities.
Judith Hammond, Tapiwa Matsika and Luam Ghebreab represented GVDN’s Global Coordinating Centre (GCC) UniServices team, attending alongside GCC colleagues Yannan Jiang, Arier Lee and Jeff Harrison from the University of Auckland, and from Australia, and the United States. They were joined by project site leads and data managers from South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. International experts from the Vaccine Monitoring Collaboration for Europe (VAC4EU) and the International Network of Special Immunization Services (INSIS), as well as funder representatives from CEPI, headquartered in Norway, also participated.The meeting focused on strengthening the project’s technical and operational foundations by exchanging domain knowledge, sharing project learnings and collaboratively addressing challenges. Attendees also celebrated the significant project milestone of launching hospital and community-based data collection – the result of coordinated efforts by research leads, epidemiologists, data managers, statisticians, and clinical teams across multiple countries.
Additionally, the event championed the power of international collaboration and knowledge sharing, with guest presentations highlighting opportunities for deeper technical partnerships and advancements, including the use of models for harmonising and securing health data.
This event underscored not only the progress made so far but also the continuing collective commitment to improving vaccine safety and health outcomes across Africa.