Governments need to understand what it costs to deliver vaccines to reach coverage goals, address health equity, manage the introduction of new vaccines, and ensure efficient use of resources. Even in low- and middle-income countries where relevant and recent cost evidence is available, planning cycles and policy decisions are not always informed by evidence.
The Immunization Costing Action Network (ICAN) project was a research and learning community designed to strengthen country capacity to generate immunization cost evidence and to understand and improve the evidence-to-policy linkages. The article identifies key factors that increase the likelihood that health policy makers will use evidence for policy making or planning, which shaped the development of a 6-step evidence to policy and practice (EPP) facilitated process. ICAN used the EPP process in Indonesia, Tanzania, and Vietnam from 2016–2019. The experience resulted in several insights regarding country priorities related to cost evidence and factors that determine uptake.
Authors: Annette Ozaltin, Kelsey Vaughan, Kassimu Tani, Fatuma Manzi, Vu Quynh Mai, Hoang Van Minh, Soewarta Kosen, Lora Shimp, Logan Brenzel, and Laura Boonstoppel
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