Optimizing Canadian public immunization programs: a prescription for action.

Recent expansion of public vaccination programs for children and youth offers new health benefits but at substantially increased cost. As with other large public investments, immunization programs ought to be systematically evaluated for safety, effectiveness and economic value. At present, program evaluations are suboptimal in most provinces and territories. Experts in public health and vaccinology who attended a workshop in 2009 reviewed the shortcomings and produced "prescriptions for action" to improve matters. Six key recommendations were made: 1) a formal requirement should exist to evaluate all public vaccination programs appropriately; 2) greater voluntary harmonization of programs will facilitate evaluations; 3) a mechanism is needed to prioritize and coordinate program-specific evaluations; 4) new funding mechanisms are needed for basic jurisdictional studies and joint studies of broad relevance; 5) strong emphasis is needed on capacity development and training; and 6) administrative barriers to accessing health information systems and publishing evaluation studies need to be overcome. The expert group considered the need to improve program evaluations as urgent and compelling, with success achievable with dedicated funding and effective leadership. Demonstrating that Canadian immunization programs are among the world's best and safest is a sound strategy for maintaining public participation in those programs.