Vaccine
Volume 31, Issue 23, Pages 2599-2658 (28 May 2013)
Indicators to assess National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs)
Original Research Article
Pages 2653-2657
Julia Blau, Nahad Sadr-Azodi, Marine Clementz, Nihal Abeysinghe, Niyazi Cakmak, Philippe Duclos, Cara Janusz, Barbara Jauregui, Richard Mihigo, Liudmila Mosina, Yoshihiro Takashima, Kamel Senouci

Abstract
A National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) is an expert advisory committee that provides evidence-based recommendations to the Ministry of Health (MoH) to guide immunization programs and policies. The World Health Organization (WHO), the Initiative for Supporting National Independent Immunization and Vaccine Advisory Committees (SIVAC) at Agence de Médecine Préventive (AMP) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) engaged NITAG stakeholders and technical partners in the development of indicators to assess the effectiveness of NITAGs. A list of 17 process, output and outcome indicators was developed and tested in 14 countries to determine whether they were understandable, feasible to collect, and useful for the countries. Based on the findings, a revised version of the indicators is proposed for self-assessment in the countries, as well as for global monitoring of the NITAGs.