Before rubella vaccine was introduced for schoolgirls and susceptible women in 1970, 200-300 babies were born annually in England and Wales with congenital defects associated with maternal rubella. In 1988 the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine was introduced for all 1 year olds; in 1994, to help avert a predicted measles epidemic, all 5-16 year olds were offered combined measles and ...

Child Health Information Systems (CHISs) are computerised clinical record systems which support a range of health promotion and prevention activities for children, including immunisation and screening. There are a number of different providers of CHISs in England. These systems are managed by child health departments in each local area and not all are interoperable. The establishment of systems...

vaccination considered as one of the most cost-effective health interventions worldwide  through prevention and control of many serious childhood diseases (1). it is estimated  global coverage of  dose 3 of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (dtp3)among children one year old has been 86% in 2014 (by range from 77% to 96%  in african region and western pacific region; respectively) (2). globally...

Vaccination programmes are implemented either as new vaccines become available or evidence about them accumulates, or in response to specific situations. In the United Kingdom, development and implementation of the national immunisation programme is centrally coordinated and funded by the Department of Health on behalf of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A number of significant ch...

BACKGROUND The proportion of Ugandan children who are fully vaccinated has varied over the years. Understanding vaccination behaviour is important for the success of the immunisation programme. This study examined influences on immunisation behaviour using the attitude-social influence-self efficacy model. METHODS We conducted nine focus group discussions (FGDs) with mothers and fathers. Eigh...

BACKGROUND Pneumonia is a main cause of under-five mortality in low-income settings. The pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) has been introduced in many countries as a tool in the disease's prevention. Although PCV's effectiveness has been established, less is known about the effects of introducing additional injectable vaccines into routine immunisation programmes, particularly in the context...

Immunisation is amongst the most costeffective public health interventions for reducing global child morbidity and mortality [1,2]. The global effort to use vaccination as a public health intervention began when the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in 1974. Over the years there have been several international efforts to increase EPI coverage,...

BACKGROUND The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) is one of the most powerful and cost-effective public health programmes to improve child survival. We assessed challenges and enablers for the programme in South Africa, as we approach the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals. METHODS Between September 2009 and September 2010 we requested national and provincial EPI manager...

Adolescents have become an increasingly prominent target group for vaccination in Australia and other developed countries. Over the past decade, voluntary school-based vaccination programs have evolved to become the primary method of delivering adolescent vaccines funded under Australia's National Immunisation Program (NIP). These programs operate at a state and territory level and offer NIP va...