The power of historical data for assessment of childhood vaccine benefits

Lone Simonsen, Cécile Viboud

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

The Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) led by WHO and UNICEF has recently celebrated its 40th anniversary and the profound increase of childhood vaccination coverage globally to more than 80%. 1
However, translation of this achievement into an estimate of deaths averted is daunting because of a shortage of demographic and epidemiological data in most resource-poor settings, and the rapidly changing landscape of disease mortality. 2
A complementary approach to such estimations is to analyse historical data from European nations, where classic EPI vaccines were introduced in the 1950s and epidemiological records abound.
Original languageEnglish
JournalThe Lancet Infectious Diseases
Volume16
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)516-518
Number of pages3
ISSN1473-3099
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2016
Externally publishedYes

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