For key informant

interviews, our study resulted in a relatively small sample size mainly due to the study’s very specific topic (hepatitis A vaccine adoption) and focus on the viewpoints of government officials, scientists, clinicians and other administrators who know something about the topic. People with program and private sector experience were contacted, but many did not respond to interview requests. Despite these limitations, we believe we have identified selleck chemicals and synthesized articles in a systematic manner and provide a glimpse into the understandings of key stakeholders of Hepatitis A in each country. This study concurrently carried out a systematic literature review and key stakeholder interviews to assess gaps between documentation and policy makers’ perceptions in six countries. Triangulation of results allowed us to identify countries where better communication of existing evidence or greater sharing of existing non-published evidence would be fruitful. It also highlighted and confirmed data gaps in seroprevalence or cost-effectiveness where both the literature and stakeholders agree that evidence is missing and would be important to gather. Applying multiple research methods resulted in a more focused attention to the data gaps

and evidence-to-policy gaps than if only one method had been used. This study also highlights the dearth of seroprevalence data that exist in India and Mexico. INK1197 mouse Further research is needed in these countries to highlight the potential health and economic impacts of hepatitis A disease to help guide vaccination decisions. We thank Kyung Min Song, Amanda Debes

and Lauren Oldija for Resminostat their support with interviews and analysis. We also thank Leslie Montejano, Nianwen Shi, and Elnara Eynullayeva for translation assistance and Orin Levine for his guidance on the project. “
“Impending new vaccine introductions (NVIs) are prompting many low and middle income countries to examine whether their vaccine supply chains (i.e., the series of steps and components required to get vaccines from the national storage location to the population) are currently getting vaccines to their populations in a timely manner and can handle the added volume of new vaccines. In 2012, the Republic of Benin’s Ministry of Health (MOH) was interested in determining how they could improve their vaccine supply chain. A December 2008 external review of Benin’s Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) found high maternal and infant mortality (397/100,000; 67/1000, respectively) [1] and that at least 15% of children are not currently receiving the complete set of recommended vaccinations, as measured by estimated DTP (diphtheria tetanus pertussis) third dose coverage [2].