BACKGROUND:
Although the overall health care systems of European nations may differ significantly from that of the US, specific components of their child immunization programs have important parallels with US federal and state programs.

OBJECTIVE:
To explore child immunization programs in the 10 largest economies of Western Europe and identify opportunities for future comparative research of relevance to the US.

METHOD:
Extensive background information was collected for each of the 10 study countries from published and internet sources. Next, structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with multiple experts in each nation (identified by the Minister of Health or Chief Medical Officer in each country), which focused on multiple components of their immunization program (e.g., recommendation formulation, financing decisions, safety and adverse event monitoring, vaccine delivery).

RESULT:
Many European nations struggle with issues similar to the US including tension between states and the federal government regarding spending and programmatic autonomy, vaccine safety concerns among parents and health professionals, vaccine supply disruption, and controversy surrounding amounts of administration fees.

CONCLUSION:
Multiple opportunities exist for the US to examine novel approaches to current problems we face in our immunization program. The US may also be able to examine the results of policy decisions in other nations as proxies for potential use in this country.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To create awareness for the utility of international studies of immunization policy in the developed world.