Fair access to vaccination in Wales
All people in Wales should have fair access to vaccination, with a fair opportunity to receive their vaccination. So that individuals, families and their communities are protected from vaccine preventable diseases.
Vaccination equity means tailoring support for specific groups that are affected by inequalities in vaccine uptake. The World Health Organization says to promote vaccine equity, we need to understand barriers to vaccination, and develop solutions so all people can be vaccinated regardless of their income, education, age, geography, ethnicity, religion or beliefs.
What is Public Health Wales doing to support vaccine equity?
The Vaccine Preventable Disease Programme has a team dedicated to public engagement and vaccination equity. This team works with organisations and the public to listen and understand the challenges affecting specific groups, and support organisations across Wales to develop tailored interventions to improve access and opportunity. The team identifies groups most effected through surveillance data.
Strategy and guidance
The Welsh Government’s Vaccination Equity Strategy for Wales explains what Wales is doing to promote vaccine equity.
The World Health Organisation publication, Tailoring Immunisation Programmes (external site) provides guidance on evidence based approaches to vaccine equity.
Engagement
Engagement is one of the core principles of Public Health Wales. The team:
- Engages with the public and a range of statutory and third sector organisations to gain behavioural insights on the barriers, perceptions and experiences of the vaccine programmes in Wales.
- Uses various tools and methods to engage directly with groups to inform and influence national strategies and service improvements.
- Aim to actively involve the public in the development of resources and interventions.
Accessible resources
The team produce a range of accessible resources to ensure information is available in a variety of formats including:
- British sign language
- Easy read
- Large print
- Audio
- Languages other than English and Welsh
- Braille (to be agreed)
These are available on each vaccine programme page, and can be ordered at Health Information Resources.
More information can be found on the NHS 111 Wales website (external site).
The team work with a range of partners and the public to ensure accessible resources meet the needs of the people using them.
Practitioners working in vaccine equity
We connect with and bring practitioners together to share information, examples of good practice, lessons learnt, support tailored interventions and create communities of practice.