title: Setting priorities for new vaccination programs by using public health officers and immunization managers opinions.
abstract: The objective of this work was to assess the opinions of public health professionals (PHPs) about routinely recommended and new vaccines, and to evaluate the feasibility of using a modified Basic Priority Rating System (BPRS) approach to prioritize new immunization programs. One hundred and thirty six PHPs were invited to participate in the survey and 101 responded. Ninty-eight percent of respondents agreed that "recommended vaccines are very useful" (mean score=9.5 out of 10). Between 47% and 100% of respondents agreed with statements about usefulness, safety, effectiveness and acceptability of seven new vaccines (mean scores 5.7-9.7). The highest BPRS scores were observed for MMRV (7.3), DTaP-IPV-HBV-Hib (7.0), and conjugate ACYW-135 (5.4), followed by HPV (4.8), HAV (4.4), rotavirus (1.6) and zoster vaccine (1.5%). The results demonstrate that PHPs perceive presently recommended vaccines as very useful tools in infection prevention. On the other hand, the perceived usefulness, safety, effectiveness, and acceptability of new vaccines are heterogeneous. This heterogeneity is indicative of the complexity of decision-making around implementation of new immunization programs and the need for tools facilitating program prioritization. The modified BPRS approach using survey responses to five statements on program usefulness, vaccine safety, effectiveness, and acceptance by vaccinators and the population is a simple, feasible and inexpensive method of prioritizing new immunization programs. The method we propose is flexible in choosing target groups and allows a large number of professionals to be involved in the decision-making process about new immunization programs.
authors.affiliation: Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Laval University Research Hospital Center, Quebec, Canada. vladimir.gilca@ssss.gouv.qc.ca
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gilca
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sauvageau
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McNeil
authors.forename: Ian M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Gemmill
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dionne
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dobson
authors.forename: Manale
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ouakki
authors.forename: France
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lavoie
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Duval
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D006282:Health Personnel; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000379:methods*; D011635:Public Health Administration; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014611:Vaccination / Q000523:psychology; D014612:Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines