Abstract
The National Immunisation Program Schedule in Australia is formulated and funded nationally under the population-wide Medicare system. The policy is implemented by the eight state and territory jurisdictions. The national immunisation registers consist of the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR), and, more recently, the National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Program Register. Moreover, a variety of jurisdiction-based registers and primary care practice software systems exist, which interact with the national registers. General practitioners can obtain reports listing patients under seven years attending their practice and recorded as 'not fully immunised', and immunisation coverage rates for their practice linked to government incentives through Medicare. A 2011 report documents national coverage of 91.8% fully immunised at 12 months, and 92.6% at 24 months. The HPV register provides information on vaccination coverage with the potential to link with a register of cervical cancer screening results. Limitations of current national register include inability to easily access immunisation histories beyond seven years of age, and issues of underreporting and timeliness, which impact significantly the immunisation coverage estimates. The linkage of these registers with healthcare outcome data will further enhance public health outcomes by enabling rapid, population-level vaccine safety and effectiveness investigations in a nation with a track record as an 'early adopter' of new childhood vaccines.
Highlights
Defined as population-based, confidential systems containing vaccination histories [1], immunisation registers have been pivotal in ascertaining and improving individual and population-level compliance with vaccination schedules [2]
The national immunisation registers consist of the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR), and more recently the National Human Papillomavirus
All are managed at the jurisdictional level, with the exception of the Immunisation Provider System (ImPS) in Victoria and South Australia, where electronic records are held at local government level, and all upload directly to ACIR or the human papillomavirus (HPV) Register
Summary
Defined as population-based, confidential systems containing vaccination histories [1], immunisation registers have been pivotal in ascertaining and improving individual and population-level compliance with vaccination schedules [2]. Immunisation registers have been used to assist in the establishment of health policies, as well as to provide a link for parent and provider incentives to improve immunisation rates [4]. The National Immunisation Program (NIP) Schedule covers all Australian population as an approved antigen-based schedule, with potentially multiple manufacturers with nationally approved vaccines purchased centrally. These include diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, inactivated polio, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pneumococcal conjugate (from July 2011, the 13-valent conjugate vaccine replaced the seven-valent conjugate vaccine), rotavirus, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, group C meningococcal conjugate and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. The national immunisation registers consist of the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR), and more recently the National Human Papillomavirus
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