This training, which was held in the Norbert Béhi room of the Centre Suisses de Recherches Scientifiques in Côte d'Ivoire, was aimed at scientists and public health practitioners involved in the meningitis surveillance system in Africa. An online format was also offered.

Organized by the MEVacP project, the hybrid meeting on Molecular Epidemiology was attended by 20 face-to-face and 10 online participants, including microbiologists and health professionals, from various African countries, such as Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, and Zimbabwe.

Four trainers provided the exchanges. They were Dr. Kanny Diallo from the Centre Suisses de Recherches Scientifiques in Côte d'Ivoire, Dr. Keith Jolley, Dr. Odile Harrison, and Dr. Jenny Maclennan from Oxford University in England. Eight other renowned scientists in the field of meningitis also facilitated online theoretical sessions or seminars; Dr. Brenda Kwambana-Adams, Dr. Marie Pierre Preziosi, Dr. André Bita, Dr. Mignon Duplessis, Pr Muhamed-Kheir Taha, Pr Martin Maiden, Pr Marc Laforce, Dr. Caroline Trotter and Pr Angela Brueggemann.

The objectives of this workshop were to :

- Provide hands-on training in the laboratory and genomic techniques needed to implement molecular epidemiology studies.

- Provide an opportunity for exchange between researchers and health professionals to improve the integration of research into policy development.

 -To present the resources and results regenerated during the MEVacP project.

Tuesday, March 15, the first day of the workshop, was marked by the presence of Professor Inza Koné, Director General of the Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte D'ivoire (CSRS) and Professor Martin Maiden, principal investigator of the MEVacP project. "This training reflects the mission of the Swiss Center, which is to accompany research in sub-Saharan Africa and to ensure that African research is among the leaders in scientific research," said the Director General of CSRS. After the intervention of the two personalities, the kick-off of the training was given by the Director General.

The days were marked by theoretical training sessions, in which the trainers presented their courses and answered the participants' questions. Practical sessions took place in the laboratory and in the classroom for the bioinformatics part, and seminars closed the day on topics related to the training theme. The announcement of the availability of the new vaccine against 5 strains of meningococcus by the end of the year, made by Professor Marc Laforce, is particularly noteworthy. This will mark an important turning point in the fight against meningococcal meningitis.

"When we learned about the training on Molecular Epidemiology, we thought it was a godsend for us, because it was the first time we were going to address this topic..., our expectations were met in most cases, but there are many things we received in record time," said one of the participants, Dr. Sadji Adodo, a physician biologist and epidemiologist from Togo.

As planned, the training ended on Friday, March 18, 2022 at 5 pm. It ended with the delivery of a certificate of completion to the great satisfaction of all participants.

The training in Molecular Epidemiology for Immunization Policy was bilingual with the provision of a professional translation service (French/English). It was also completely free of charge for all participants, with registration done online through a registration form.

D.T/MEVacP