Reaching every child with rotavirus vaccine: Report from the 10th African rotavirus symposium held in Bamako, Mali

The Center for Vaccine Development – Mali (CVD – Mali), the World Health Organization’s regional office in Africa (WHO/AFRO), and the CVD at the University of Maryland School of Medicine hosted the 10th African Rotavirus Symposium in Bamako, Mali on 1–2 June 2016. The symposium is coordinated by WHO/AFRO, the Regional Rotavirus Reference Laboratories, and the African Rotavirus Network (ARN), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The event brings together leading rotavirus researchers, scientists, and policy-makers from across Africa and the world. Over 150 participants, from 31 countries, including 27 in Africa, joined forces to address the theme “Reaching Every Child in Africa with Rotavirus Vaccines.” This symposium, the first in francophone Africa, occurred at an unprecedented time when 33 African countries had introduced rotavirus vaccines into their national immunization programs. The symposium concluded with a Call to Action to introduce rotavirus vaccines in the 21 remaining African countries, to increase access in countries with existing vaccination programs, and to continue surveillance and research on rotavirus and other diarrheal diseases.