Mitigating health security risks by supporting immunisation coverage and preventing outbreaks (ARIA_RISE)

Our proposal presents a means by which the efforts of individual Australian institutions and experts active in regional immunisation support can, through a newly formed consortium, the Australian Regional Immunisation Alliance (ARIA), be extended, intensified, and better connected respond to critical vaccine preventable infectious disease challenges in Timor-Leste (T-L), Papua New Guinea (PNG) and other Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Our collective experience and established relationships within almost all Pacific Infectious Disease Prevention (PIDP) countries, working with Ministries of Health (MoH) and country staff, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and other key partners, will enable ARIA to focus on strengthening immunisation coverage, as well as vaccine preventable disease (VPD) surveillance, to avert regional public health security threats while building capacity through sustainable and scalable activities.