On May 11-12, 2017, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Global Health and Population hosted a workshop titled Innovative Approaches to Widening and Deepening Research on the Value of Vaccination. The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the state of research on the broader social and economic impacts of vaccination (BSEIV), including ongoing and prospective research.
Researchers, policymakers, and industry representatives discussed data issues and methodologies related to measuring the full value of vaccination, as well as ideas for future studies and ways in which these ideas may be improved.
During the opening dinner on May 11, Robert Steinglass of John Snow Inc. delivered a keynote address titled Vaccines Don’t Deliver Themselves. Mr. Steinglass emphasized the importance of implementing vaccination programs effectively, noting the impact of patient experience on dropout rates for routine immunization.
On May 12, the day consisted of a series of presentations and group discussion on ongoing research and areas for further study. The schedule below lists the presentation titles and presenters and includes copies of the presentations when available.
Key themes that emerged from the workshop include the need for a more critical assessment of the functionality and requirements of vaccination delivery systems, the importance of considering the likely application of research outcomes when designing an analysis, the need for further development of methods to value and assess healthy life, and the need for creative approaches to leverage existing data sources and generate new data. The message underpinning all of these discussions was that the research must be high-quality, relevant, and accessible to stakeholders who can translate and apply the research in real-world settings.