Existence and functionality of national immunisation technical advisory groups in Africa from 2010 to 2016

We describe the existence and functionality of National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) in Africa between 2010 and 2016, using data from the WHO-UNICEF Joint Reporting Form. The number of African countries with NITAGs increased from 15 (28%) in 2010 to 26 (48%) in 2016. Countries wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alison B. Wiyeh, Evanson Z. Sambala, Ntombenhle Ngcobo, Charles S. Wiysonge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2018-10-01
Series:Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2018.1475815
Description
Summary:We describe the existence and functionality of National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) in Africa between 2010 and 2016, using data from the WHO-UNICEF Joint Reporting Form. The number of African countries with NITAGs increased from 15 (28%) in 2010 to 26 (48%) in 2016. Countries with a functioning NITAG increased from 5(9%) in 2010 to 16 (30%) in 2016. In 2016, 13 of the 27 (48%) low-income African countries reported having a NITAG; seven (54%) of them functional. Thirteen of the 26 (50%) middle-income countries reported having a NITAG; nine (69%) of them functional. In 2016, six of the seven African countries (86%) in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region had a NITAG, with three (50%) functional. In the WHO African Region, 20 of the 47 countries (43%) had NITAGs; 13 (65%) of them functional. Substantial investments should be made to ensure that every African country has a functional NITAG.
ISSN:2164-5515
2164-554X