Tailoring Immunization Programmes (TIP)

Vaccination is an excellent health intervention, saving millions of lives and even more pain and suffering. So why are many people not fully vaccinated?

There is no simple answer. People may forget or feel uncomfortable going to the health clinic. Some may find the waiting time inconvenient; others may have concerns about vaccine safety or may have not been properly informed about when and where to go for vaccination. Some may not have proper access to health services.

To achieve high and equitable vaccination uptake, it is necessary to understand the barriers to vaccination for the specific population groups considered. Then solutions can be designed which support, motivate and enable people to be vaccinated, regardless of who or where they are.

The tailoring immunization programmes (TIP) approach was developed by WHO/Europe building on behavioural insights theory. It supports countries in identifying:

• populations with suboptimal vaccination uptake;
• barriers to and drivers of vaccination in those population groups;
• interventions to address barriers and leverage drivers of vaccination – with the aim of increasing vaccination uptake.

Since 2013, the TIP approach has been applied in 12 countries in the WHO European Region, and 3 countries outside of the Region.