How to deal with vaccine hesitancy?

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Immunization Science
• Health Policy

Background:

• Concerns regarding vaccine hesitancy and its negative impact on vaccination rates and national immunization programs.
• The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization established a Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy to address these issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a comprehensive review of vaccine hesitancy.
• To propose actionable recommendations for public health bodies, WHO, its partners, and member states.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature and data on vaccine hesitancy.
• Analysis of global and national immunization program performance.
• Formulation of recommendations based on expert consensus.

Main Results:

• Recommendations are categorized into three key areas: understanding hesitancy, enhancing organizational capacity, and sharing best practices.
• Emphasis on increasing comprehension of vaccine hesitancy's determinants and evolving challenges.
• Focus on developing and implementing tools to combat vaccine hesitancy.

Conclusions:

• Addressing vaccine hesitancy requires a multi-faceted approach involving increased understanding, strengthened infrastructure, and collaborative knowledge sharing.
• The recommendations aim to decrease hesitancy and improve vaccine acceptance globally.
• Implementation of these recommendations is crucial for robust national immunization programs.