The Immunization and Vaccines Implementation Research Advisory Committee (IVIR-AC) is a principal advisory group to WHO providing independent appraisal of and advice on implementation research related to vaccines and immunization, to inform public health decisions. It was initially established as the Quantitative Immunization and Vaccines Related Research (QUIVER) advisory committee in 2007 to put modelling evidence into both methodologic context and best practices for the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals (IVB) Department. It’s remit expanded to include other areas of vaccine implementation research such as methods reviews of vaccine value assessments, effectiveness and impact studies. These Terms of Reference (TOR) update the TORS established in October 2011 (Annex 1). The update to the TORs were motivated by the need to realign the different committees advising the IVB Department and to specify in more detail the remit of the IVIR-AC committee’s work on implementation research.
IVIR-AC will act as an advisory group (AG) to WHO, reviewing modelling evidence including for issues raised in discussions by SAGE. To inform important strategic policy questions from SAGE, multiple-model comparison approaches are encouraged rather than relying on modeled evidence from one group only. The reason for this is a) to increase understanding and transparency of modeling methods, b) to characterize the robustness of different model predictions to changes in inputs, structures, assumptions and parameters, to assess their impact for policy recommendations, and/or (c) synthesize conclusions from several models in order to inform policy recommendations.
IVIR-AC will act as an advisory body to WHO in this field.
I. Functions
IVIR-AC has no executive, regulatory or decision-making function. IVIR-AC is a multi-disciplinary and independent advisory body. Its sole role is to provide advice and recommendations to WHO.
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the IVIR-AC shall have the following functions:
- IVIR-AC combines relevant expertise to provide an in-depth understanding of model best practices, nuances and caveats which is critical for decisions related to strategies, policies, and programs that rely on modelled evidence.
- IVIR-AC is tasked with reviewing (i) quantitative methods in vaccine-related research as well as (ii) implementation research related to estimating the performance, impact and value of vaccines and to advise the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals on their relevance and applicability
- With regards to (i) quantitative methods in vaccine research, IVIR-AC reviews research questions put forward by WHO Secretariat and advises WHO on the appropriate model structure and features.
- With regards to (ii) implementation research, IVIR-AC evaluates methods and approaches that aim to inform WHO of the performance, impact and proposed value of vaccines in coordination with other relevant committees in WHO.