Moving Forward with Strengthening Routine Immunization Delivery as part of Measles and Rubella Elimination Activities

Publish Date: April 2013
Author: Rebecca Fields (MCHIP Senior Technical Advisor), Manish Jain (MCHIP/India), Karan Singh Sagar (MCHIP/India), and Alya Dabbagh (WHO)
Language: English

To showcase recent developments and new directions in global immunization, the peer-reviewed medical journal Vaccine  published a special supplement in April 2013 on the Decade of Vaccines (DoV).

MCHIP and WHO staff authored the article “Moving Forward with Strengthening Routine Immunization Delivery as part of Measles and Rubella Elimination Activities.” While there have been debates for decades about whether mass vaccination campaigns (sometimes known as supplementary immunization activities or SIAs) have a positive or negative effect on routine immunization, this paper explores how measles-rubella SIAs can be used in to help address specific challenges to routine immunization. It emphasizes the need to take action before, during and following the SIA to bring about lasting improvements for routine immunization and the need to assign clear responsibilities for work in this area.