Measuring vaccination coverage better will help achieve disease control

Abstract

Timely and accurate measurement of vaccination coverage is required to evaluate the success of vaccine programmes as well as identifying susceptible groups in order to better control disease. Estimating coverage requires knowledge of how many people are eligible for vaccination, and how many have received the vaccine. Achieving this presents a number of challenges in both high and low income settings. Investing in systems that record vaccination coverage better, as an integral part of vaccine strategies, will be a step towards better control of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Keywords: Communicable disease control; Disease eradication; Immunisation; Information systems; Vaccination.