The Global One Health initiative (GOHi), in collaboration with the Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority (EFDA), trained 50 members of the regional Vaccine Adverse Events investigation task force across six regions of Ethiopia. Led by EFDA and GOHi trainers, the program covered essential topics such as the national pharmacovigilance system, basic concepts of vaccines strategies for the prevention, monitoring and management of adverse events following immunization (AEFI), and the Ethiopian AEFI surveillance system, including reporting tools. Additional key topics included vaccine safety and risk communication, procedures for investigating serious AEFIs, and the basics of determining the likelihood that a vaccine or drug caused an adverse event.
In addition to lectures, the training included a practical demonstration of the AEFI reporting tool and a group work session focused on practical case study exercises. The overall aim is to enhance the skills of regional task force members, equipping them to produce high-quality investigation reports for subsequent causality assessments.