Dr. Oleg Benes, Technical Officer, Immunization and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Programme, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, visited Turkmenistan from 24 to 27 March to support Turkmenistan in advancing national efforts to strengthen vaccine safety systems.

According to a WHO press release, from March 24 to 25, the expert worked closely with specialists from the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service (SSES) of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan to implement a national system for monitoring adverse events following immunization (AEFI). This included a review of the organizational structure, roles and responsibilities of the system, the application of WHO recommendations and tools to strengthen vaccine safety monitoring, and the development of a comprehensive action plan to further improve AEFI surveillance.

An online session on pharmacovigilance and the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring (PIDM) with Dr. Ayako Fukushima, licensed pharmacist and technical officer in the Pharmacovigilance Unit at WHO headquarters, presented the WHO global strategy for smart pharmacovigilance. It outlines WHO's support for national pharmacovigilance systems and explains the application process for membership of PIDM, a global collaborative network established in 1968 that enables countries to share safety data and strengthen safety surveillance of medicines and vaccines.

During the session, Sara Oliveira, a technical specialist in pharmacovigilance at UMC, also introduced the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) to the participants.

On March 26, specialists from the National Immunization Programme participated in a training session led by Dr. Beneš.

On March 27, Dr. Benes worked with the National Immunization Team to discuss Turkmenistan's accession as an associate member of the WHO Global Programme for International Monitoring of Drugs and Vaccines.

These events highlight the strong and ongoing collaboration between Turkmenistan and WHO to strengthen vaccine safety systems, increase public confidence, and promote broader national and global health security.