Obstacles to New Vaccine Adoption in LMICs

In 2008, both the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Assembly and the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization noted that little had been documented concerning the obstacles faced by Lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) in new vaccine adoption. LMICs receive little external support for their vaccination programs, despite a birth cohort of nearly 80 million and the burden of disease from vaccine-preventable diseases.  The GAVI Alliance (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) assists 41 low-income countries (LIC), as well as some (31) countries at the lower-income end of the LMIC category. Lack of assistance has already led some LMICs to fall behind in introducing and requiring children to be vaccinated from vaccine-preventable diseases. This study analyzes decision making concerning new vaccines, identifies and classifies factors that influence the decision-making process, and gathers information from vaccine manufacturers and global experts in immunization programs. The findings identify practical interventions at three levels—global, regional, and country—to address the issues uncovered.

 

Global & Regional Initiatives

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