title: Lessons learned from the development of a new methodology to assess missed opportunities for vaccination in Latin America and the Caribbean.
abstract: The Pan American Health Organization recently developed a practical guide for evaluating missed opportunities for vaccination among children aged <5 years. A missed opportunity occurs when an individual eligible for vaccination has contact with a health facility and does not receive a needed vaccine, despite having no contraindications. In this article, we discuss the strengths and limitations of this new methodology and present lessons learned from recent studies on undervaccination in Latin America. Our findings should be useful to countries embarking on assessing the magnitude and the causes of missed opportunities for vaccination children experience at health facilities.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Family Immunization Unit, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, 525 23rd St, NW, Washington, DC, 20037, USA. velandiam@paho.org.
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Velandia-González
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA. pierce.trumbo@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Silas Pierson
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Trumbo
authors.affiliation: Center for Research on Infectious Diseases (CISEI in Spanish), National Institute of Public Health (INSP), Mexico City, Mexico. drdiazortega@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Díaz-Ortega
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Family Immunization Unit, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, 525 23rd St, NW, Washington, DC, 20037, USA. bravopam@paho.org.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bravo-Alcántara
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Family Immunization Unit, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, 525 23rd St, NW, Washington, DC, 20037, USA. danovarc@paho.org.
authors.forename: M Carolina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Danovaro-Holliday
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. vxd0@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Vance
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dietz
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Family Immunization Unit, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, 525 23rd St, NW, Washington, DC, 20037, USA. ruizcuau@paho.org.
authors.forename: Cuauhtémoc
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Matus
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D017691:Caribbean Region; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006268:Health Facilities; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*