Strategies for decision-making on vaccine use: the French experience

Abstract

France enjoys benefits of a good organization of its healthcare system. National Health Insurance is reimbursing vaccines if they are used according to the national recommendation guidelines. Vaccination is the responsibility of the government, advised by its National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (Comité Technique des vaccinations). But France, like many other countries, faces insufficient involvement from the public in immunization programs and, consequently, numerous outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. The French government launched a 5-year national program for improvement in vaccination policy in 2012 to simplify the guidelines, facilitate access to vaccination, invest in research and evaluate its vaccine policy. The role of the public and healthcare professionals to encourage vaccination is crucial for the future.

Keywords:

• France
• health policy
• immunization guidelines
• recommendations
• vaccination
• vaccine-preventable diseases

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

• A satisfying vaccine coverage rate is not reached today in France because of difficulties in communication and the mistrust of the public toward vaccination.

• The complexity of the decision-making process and the multiplicity of the actors make the anticipation of the recommendations challenging in practice.

• Implication of the public, and more specifically civil society organizations, is essential.

• Healthcare professionals have a key role in communicating and convincing patients to get their recommended vaccination.

Notes