National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs): Guidance for their establishment and strengthening☆
Section snippets
Background
While for many years, at both the global and the country levels, the focus of immunization programmes has been on infants and a limited number of traditional vaccines, the vaccine world has evolved with new demands and expectations of global and national policy makers, donors, other interested parties, and the public. The development and availability of several new vaccines targeting a variety of age groups, the emergence of new technologies, the increased public focus on vaccine safety issues,
Value, roles and functions of a National Immunization Technical Advisory Group
A NITAG is both a technical resource and a deliberative body to empower the national authorities and policy makers to make evidence-based decisions. Such a resource is particularly important in view of the complex and vast bodies of evidence and the global interdependence and integration of health systems.
A well balanced and institutionalized group can aid a national programme to resist pressure from any interest or lobby group with narrow scopes or interests, including, but not only, that of
Guidance for the membership and mode of operation of a NITAG
The following discussion identifies elements that need to be well defined in the membership and mode of operations of a NITAG. The proposed structure for NITAGs outlined below may in part be seen as an example towards which to aim, but it is well accepted that establishing a fully functional NITAG may take a number of years. Furthermore, the guidance provided below is general guidance and the optimal process for reaching the best evidence-based decisions may vary from country to country. Each
WHO's and partners’ roles and support for the establishment, strengthening and functioning of NITAGs
WHO has placed a high priority on the development of national decision making process and capabilities. The directions for countries to consider when establishing or improving the functioning of a NITAG take time and are not always easy to follow as many countries do not always have the culture of elements such as the independence of expertise, a clearly defined approach in the case of conflict of interest and a well established evidence based process for decision making. In most of the
Conflict of interest
Philippe Duclos has no financial interests relevant to this paper.
Acknowledgements
To Lara Wolfson who contributed to the development of the initial guidance document. To Abdoul-Reza Esteghamati, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Teheran; Steve Landry, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Noni MacDonald, Dalhousie University; Bjorn Melgaard; and Jean Smith US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who reviewed and provided insight on the initial guidance document. With particular thanks to Noni MacDonald and Jean Smith for their review of this paper and useful
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