On March 16, 2022, Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) held a meeting of “Next Actions to Ensure the Development and Implementation of Immunization and Vaccine Policies Working Group 4 –Multi-Stakeholder Engagement.”

Among life stages including infancy, early childhood, childhood, puberty, adolescence, adulthood, and old age, Japan’s immunization and vaccination policies have centered on infancy, early childhood, and childhood. These policies have contributed to better health and quality of life for the public. However, as demonstrated by a growing body of global scientific evidence, a life course approach to vaccination which takes every life stage into account not only helps to maintain public health, but also generates socioeconomic benefits.

In Japan, vaccines for preventing the outbreak and spread of potentially contagious diseases are classified as either “routine” or “voluntary.” In addition, vaccination measures change according to the category of the disease in question. For category A diseases, vaccinations are provided with an emphasis on mass prevention and the prevention of severe infections, are actively recommended by the Government, and individuals (or their guardians) are obligated to make efforts to be vaccinated. Vaccinations for category B diseases, on the other hand, emphasize individual prevention and individuals (or their guardians) are not obligated to make efforts to be vaccinated. This means that, depending on category, there are significant differences in how to best conduct vaccinations.

At this meeting on multi-stakeholder engagement, we deepened discussions on which methods are best to engage society and build understanding toward vaccination policies that reflect changes in society and meet the needs of each target group, as well as on future actions needed to address related issues.

To prevent the potential spread of COVID-19, this meeting was held online using a remote conferencing system.

■ 2021 Advisory Board Working Group 4  (Titles omitted; in Japanese alphabetical order by last name)

Members:

• Kyoko Ama (Representative, Children and Healthcare Project)
• Nobuhiko Okabe (Director, Kawasaki Institute for Health and Safety Research Institute; Counselor, Cabinet Secretariat)
• Kayo Kani (Co-representative, The Hand in Hand Committee for the Elimination of Rubella)
• Akihiko Saitoh (Professor, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Niigata University; Vice Dean, School of Medicine, Niigata University)
• Yasuhiro Suzuki (Vice President, International University of Health and Welfare; Former Chief Medical and Global Health Officer, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)
• Asako Nakai (Secretariat, KNOW VPD! Protect Our Children)
• Yoko Fujimoto (Member of the Board and Operating Officer, Vaccines Lead, Pfizer Japan Inc)
• Hiroyuki Moriuchi (Professor, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University; Professor, School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University)    

MC/Moderator:

• Joji Sugawara (Manager, Health and Global Policy Institute)

■Related contents held as part of the project

– November 4, 2021 The First Meeting of Working Group 5 on Vaccine Research and Development, “Next Actions for the Development and Implementation of Immunization and Vaccination Policies”
– January 17, 2022 The Second Meeting of Working Group 5 on Vaccine Research and Development, “The Next Actions to Ensure the Development and Implementation of Immunization and Vaccine Policies”
– March 9, 2022 The Meeting of Working Group 1 on Life Course Approach, “The Next Actions to Ensure the Development and Implementation of Immunization and Vaccine Policies”
– March 14, 2022 The Meeting of Working Group 2 on Communication Approach, “The Next Actions to Ensure the Development and Implementation of Immunization and Vaccine Policies”