Evaluation of National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) of middle-income countries in the WHO European Region; a synopsis
Külper-Schiek W. Mosina L. Jacques-Carroll L.A. Falman A. Harder T. Kakarriqi E. Preza I. Badalyan A. Sahakyan G. Romanova O. Shimanovich V. Musa S. Bayesheva D. Azimbayeva N. Nurmatov Z. Toigombaeva V. Revenco N. Gutu V. Markovic-Denic L. Bonaci-Nikolic B. Tursunova D. Tadzhiyeva N. Wichmann O. Datta S.S.
2025Frontiers Media SA
Frontiers in Public Health
2025#13
Introduction: A National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) provides independent guidance to Ministries of Health (MoH) and policymakers, enabling them to make informed decisions on national immunization policies and practices. As of 2022, 50 of the 53 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region (the Region) had established a NITAG, with 58% of all NITAGs and 66% of those in middle-income countries (MICs) in the Region meeting all six WHO process indicators of NITAG functionality. However, many newly established NITAGs in MICs in the Region experience challenges in terms of their functioning, structure, and outputs. Methods: To address these challenges and achieve the goal of evidence-informed decision making on immunizations, the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) implemented a project to strengthen the functioning of MIC NITAGs of the Region through comprehensive evaluations of nine NITAGs and development and implementation of improvement plans. Results: All evaluated NITAGs are formally established and complete the most important aspects of NITAG functioning. The main challenge for all NITAGs is the lack of a well-staffed Secretariat to establish annual workplans and develop NITAG recommendations following a standardized process. Discussion: The evaluation identified NITAGs strengths and challenges. Some challenges have been addressed through improvement plan implementation. WHO and RKI will continue to evaluate NITAGs and support development and implementation of improvement plans. WHO and NITAG partners will continue to provide training on the standardized recommendation-making process and advocate increased MoH support to NITAGs, including dedicated Secretariat staff. Copyright
evaluation , evidence-based decision making , immunization , immunization policy , middle-income countries , National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) , vaccination , World Health Organization
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Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
WHO Regional Office for Europe, Vaccine-Preventable Diseases & Immunization, Copenhagen, Denmark
Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases Department, Institute of Public Health of Albania, Tirana, Albania
WHO Country Office for Albania, Vaccine-Preventable Diseases & Immunization, Tirana, Albania
Department of Epidemiology, Yerevan State Medical University, Yerevan, Armenia
National Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Ministry of Health of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia
Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Belarus State Medical University, Minsk, Belarus
Laboratory of Quality Control of Immunobiological Medicines, Republican Research and Practical Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Minsk, Belarus
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Institute for Public Health of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Department of Childrens Infectious Diseases, Astana Medical University, Astana, Kazakhstan
Vaccine Preventable Disease Control Unit of the Sanitary - Epidemiology Control Committee, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan
National Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Department of General and Clinical Epidemiology, Kyrgyz State Medical Academy, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Department of Pediatrics, State University of Medicine and Pharmaceutics “Nicolae Testemiţanu”, Chisinau, Moldova
Department of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, National Agency for Public Health of Moldova, Chisinau, Moldova
Faculty of Medicine, Institute for Epidemiology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Department of Allergy and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade and Clinic of Allergy, Immunology/Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
Committee for Sanitary-Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health of Republic of Uzbekistan, Immunization and Logistics, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Department of Infectious Diseases, Tashkent Medical Academy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
WHO Regional Office for Europe
Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases Department
WHO Country Office for Albania
Department of Epidemiology
National Center of Disease Control and Prevention
Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Laboratory of Quality Control of Immunobiological Medicines
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Department of Childrens Infectious Diseases
Vaccine Preventable Disease Control Unit of the Sanitary - Epidemiology Control Committee
National Institute of Public Health
Department of General and Clinical Epidemiology
Department of Pediatrics
Department of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Faculty of Medicine
Department of Allergy and Immunology
Committee for Sanitary-Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health of Republic of Uzbekistan
Department of Infectious Diseases
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