Title: HPRU in Vaccines/Immunisation at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: The immunisation system in England is among the best in the world and is widely trusted. However, to sustain this success we need to tackle three emerging challenges. Firstly, although the proportion of children who are vaccinated is high, this figure is falling - reflecting and reinforcing inequality in society. Secondly, the vaccine programme costs &pound;500 million/year and, with increased pressures on NHS resources, we need to ensure that the programme continues to provide value for taxpayers investment. Thirdly, because vaccines have almost eliminated the major infectious diseases of childhood, most parents have grown up without seeing these diseases. In 2019 it is easy to forget the benefits of vaccines and focus on potential harms, which undermines trust. Our partnership includes scientists from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Public Health England and Cambridge University who specialise in three areas. (1) Using health service data from GPs and hospitals to measure how much disease exists, how much is prevented by vaccines, and whether vaccines are safe. (2) Using mathematics to predict the spread of infection in a population, the potential impact of immunisation and the economic benefits of vaccine programmes. (3) Surveying and interviewing the public to understand their experiences and attitudes to vaccination and to work out why some people chose not to get vaccinated and why others cannot get vaccinated. The scientists will work collectively to tackle the vaccine challenges. To increase the number of people being vaccinated we will: test whether feedback to GPs can help them target vaccine programmes more effectively use health data to understand how vaccination is affected by mental health problems work with black and minority ethnic communities to explore how to improve vaccine uptake To ensure vaccines provide value for money we will: work out how to deliver vaccines more efficiently by following mothers/babies through pregnancy and infancy develop mathematical and economic models for new vaccines examine whether vaccines can also prevent the development of resistant superbugs To sustain trust in vaccines we will: improve safety surveillance for vaccines given during pregnancy help the NHS modernise the childhood vaccine schedule in a way that is acceptable to parents explore and respond to public concerns about vaccines through population surveys and automated analyses of online social media Our overarching goals are to reverse the decline in immunisation coverage in children, increase vaccine uptake in adults and reduce inequalities in the vaccine service.

Lay abstract: The immunisation system in England is among the best in the world and is widely trusted. However, to sustain this success we need to tackle three emerging challenges. Firstly, although the proportion of children who are vaccinated is high, this figure is falling - reflecting and reinforcing inequality in society. Secondly, the vaccine programme costs &pound;500 million/year and, with increased pressures on NHS resources, we need to ensure that the programme continues to provide value for taxpayers investment. Thirdly, because vaccines have almost eliminated the major infectious diseases of childhood, most parents have grown up without seeing these diseases. In 2019 it is easy to forget the benefits of vaccines and focus on potential harms, which undermines trust. Our partnership includes scientists from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Public Health England and Cambridge University who specialise in three areas. (1) Using health service data from GPs and hospitals to measure how much disease exists, how much is prevented by vaccines, and whether vaccines are safe. (2) Using mathematics to predict the spread of infection in a population, the potential impact of immunisation and the economic benefits of vaccine programmes. (3) Surveying and interviewing the public to understand their experiences and attitudes to vaccination and to work out why some people chose not to get vaccinated and why others cannot get vaccinated. The scientists will work collectively to tackle the vaccine challenges. To increase the number of people being vaccinated we will: test whether feedback to GPs can help them target vaccine programmes more effectively use health data to understand how vaccination is affected by mental health problems work with black and minority ethnic communities to explore how to improve vaccine uptake To ensure vaccines provide value for money we will: work out how to deliver vaccines more efficiently by following mothers/babies through pregnancy and infancy develop mathematical and economic models for new vaccines examine whether vaccines can also prevent the development of resistant superbugs To sustain trust in vaccines we will: improve safety surveillance for vaccines given during pregnancy help the NHS modernise the childhood vaccine schedule in a way that is acceptable to parents explore and respond to public concerns about vaccines through population surveys and automated analyses of online social media Our overarching goals are to reverse the decline in immunisation coverage in children, increase vaccine uptake in adults and reduce inequalities in the vaccine service.

Research activity codes: 3.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (PREVENTION)
Health categories: INFECTION