The AU-3S JSM Group’s key roles are performed by a group of members and experts with support from a Secretariat.

The AU-3S JSM Group Secretariat is led by AUDA-NEPAD, with representatives from the country Secretariats for capacity strengthening and from reference regulatory authorities from outside the African continent to provide technical support as required. Country representatives on the Secretariat work with AUDA-NEPAD on signal detection, validation, and prioritisation activities.  They provide the link back to the national committee findings and investigate the status of individual cases as required.  In addition, they resolve any coding issues in the Vigilance Hub where non-MedDRA reaction terms have been used. Additionally, the Secretariat:

• Organises the meetings of the AU-3S JSM Group

• Takes minutes of AU-3S JSM Group meetings

• Communicates relevant information to key stakeholders

• Regularly reports to the AU-3S Steering Group

The AU-3S JSM Group members include representatives from member countries’ NRAs, EPIs, and national product safety committees. The Group is also supplemented with independent experts for key subject matter expertise. Core expertise areas for the AU-3S JSM Group include biostatistics with training in clinical pharmacology, epidemiology, immunology, microbiology, pathology, pharmacy, public health, toxicology, and vaccinology.  Additional experts will be called upon for specific topics as required. A view of the current AU-3S JSM Group composition by expertise, organisation, and country can be seen in the table below:

JSM Group | Members confirmed to date

AU-3S JSM Group members are responsible for clinical assessment of potential signals from member countries’ combined data. The scope of assessment currently is focused only of COVID-19 vaccine related data. This is complementary to causality assessments that may be performed by national committees. As needed, further clinical assessment of these signals can be conducted by continental safety assessment committees, including the African Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (AACVS), in consultation with national committees where additional information is required.