Global Vaccine Logics

The West African Ebola outbreak exposed the need to better understand the various factors that influence the acceptance of emergency interventions, and the importance of their alignment with the priorities of national governments and local communities in low and middle income countries (LMIC). Distrust and uncertainty about the safety of medicines and vaccines continues to challenge effective immunization and public health strategies. This translational research will explore two major Canadian contributions, the mobile lab response units and the successful Ebola vaccine effectiveness trial in Guinea. The interactions between diverse rationales and practices (logics) of global, national and local communities surrounding these critical events will be explored to develop an analytical decision-making framework that will aid future interventions. Working collaboratively with the World Health Organization, national government officials, scientists and community health workers, this research will produce a framework to guide national decision-makers in the integration and evaluation of evidence from diverse knowledge holders. Clinical-scientists, health officials, governments, industry, international organizations, and citizens will utilize our framework to plan, select and implement health interventions that effectively engage local community health workers in disease detection, surveillance and future response. Grounded in the qualitative perspectives of anthropology, science studies, technology assessment and humanitarian practice and in conjunction with clinical science, this framework will feature the knowledge that reflects local context needs, regional priorities, and scientific capabilities and limitations. This study will help strengthen LMIC health systems by creating a universal integrated platform for research, emergency response training and preparedness for future disease outbreaks.