title: Strengthening the technical capacity at country-level to make informed policy decisions on new vaccine introduction: lessons learned by PAHO's ProVac Initiative.
abstract: Rotavirus, pneumococcal conjugate and HPV vaccines have the potential to make substantial gains in health, specifically in reducing child mortality and improving women's health. Decisions regarding new vaccine introduction should be grounded in a broad evidence base that reflects national conditions. In this paper, we describe the Pan American Health Organization ProVac Initiative's experience in strengthening national decision making regarding new vaccine introduction through five sets of activities: (1) strengthening infrastructure for decision making; (2) developing tools for economic analyses and providing training to national multidisciplinary teams; (3) collecting data, conducting analysis, and gathering a framework of evidence; (4) advocating for evidence-based decisions; and (5) effectively planning for new vaccine introduction when evidence supports it. Key lessons learned regarding the role of multidisciplinary country teams, provision of direct technical support, development of tools, and provision of distance and in-person training are highlighted.
authors.affiliation: Immunization Project, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC, USA. jauregub@paho.org
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jauregui
authors.forename: Anushua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Brenda M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Bolanos
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Resch
authors.forename: Cristiana M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Toscano
authors.forename: Cuauhtemoc Ruiz
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Matus
authors.forename: Jon K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Andrus
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006285:Health Planning / Q000379:methods; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D010175:Pan American Health Organization; D014611:Vaccination / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*