THE ROLE OF POLICY ANALYSIS IN NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMS: A SCOPING REVIEW

Abstract

Policy analysis is widely being used in multiple disciplines such as politic, economy, social, history and administration. It has a variety of definition as it is variously defined by different scholars. This is no exception to the health sector especially in the nationwide program such as immunization. In order for the immunization programmes to be successful, it primarily depends on up-to-date policies and its effectiveness to ensure their goals to be achievable and to secure its sustainability. This manuscript reviewed twelve articles to extract the roles of policy analysis. The aim of this manuscript is to review the role of policy analysis in selected countries regarding national immunization program policy. As the role of policy analysis has not been explicitly explained in literatures, the result of roles of policy analysis in this manuscript are extracted from the articles found in this scoping review. The roles are evaluating existing policy, modification of policy, formulating new policy, choosing best alternatives and prescribing recommendation. Most policy analysis plays not only one but multiple roles depending on the context of the policy. This results in the development of a framework to illustrate the roles of policy analysis and their interactions. Despite the simplicity of the framework of policy analysis, health policy analysis is indeed a tedious endeavour. By having a clear picture of what role it plays in making policy analysis, perhaps the process can be less daunting to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of immunization policy.

Keywords: Policy analysis, roles, national, immunization, vaccination