Accelerating introduction of new vaccines and related technologies
Overview
New and increasingly sophisticated vaccines have become available in the last decade to provide protection against a growing number of diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and cervical cancer.
Since 2000, all countries in the SEA Region have introduced hepatitis B-containing vaccines in the national immunization schedule, and eight countries have introduced HepB birth dose. All countries in the region (except Thailand) have introduced Haemophilus influenza b (Hib) vaccine in a pentavalent formulation. As part of the polio eradication endgame strategy, all countries have introduced IPV and switched from tOPV to bOPV in their national schedules.
Based on the current disease burden of countries in the region, priority vaccines for consideration are human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine, and rotavirus vaccine. In addition, cholera, mumps, seasonal influenza and typhoid vaccines should be considered for specific geographical areas and age groups.
Many countries still lack reliable disease burden information on which evidence-based decisions can be made to introduce a new vaccine. Supporting countries to strengthen their vaccine preventable disease surveillance is a priority for the region.