Bußmann Anna, Speckemeier Christian, Schlesiger Pauline, Wasem Jürgen, Bekeredjian-Ding Isabelle, Ultsch Bernhard
Essener Forschungsinstitut für Medizinmanagement (EsFoMed) GmbH, Essen, Germany.
Lehrstuhl für Medizinmanagement, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Apr 4;25(1):1281. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22420-0.
Annual vaccination is the most important measure to prevent influenza infection. However, demand planning of influenza vaccines is challenging due to seasonal adaptations of virus strains and long production times. The aim was to analyze how other countries manage the demand planning of seasonal influenza vaccines and to draw implications for the German demand planning system for seasonal (influenza) vaccines.
A two-stage approach has been adopted. As a first step, an analysis of the German demand planning system was carried out to identify key challenges. Second, an analysis of comparable countries with regard to solution strategies was conducted. For this, six comparator countries were selected based on different healthcare systems and structures (Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Singapore, Switzerland, USA). Targeted searches in PubMed, Google Scholar and on websites of agencies and organizations were performed. Further information was requested through e-mail correspondence with the ministries of health and other relevant institutions. In addition, experts from the pharmaceutical industry in the selected countries were approached via written survey.
Identified challenges in the demand planning of influenza vaccines in Germany include a lack of reliability of the current demand planning system, bureaucratic burden, lack of binding orders, financial liability of GPs, vaccine discard and limited possibilities of reordering. Various approaches have been identified in six comparator countries. Some of them are already implemented in the German system, others could address the challenges in the German demand planning for influenza vaccines. These include vaccine forecast methods, monitoring systems/vaccination registers, a central platform for orders, (earlier) preorders, centralized purchase system, reimbursement of a surplus and reallocation and return systems. The different approaches are discussed and linked to address the challenges of the German system.
Several approaches have been identified that may be suitable to address the challenges of the German system of (influenza) vaccine demand planning. In the future, further investigation is necessary to assess the potential feasibility and implementation on a health policy level.
年度疫苗接种是预防流感感染的最重要措施。然而，由于病毒株的季节性变化和较长的生产时间，流感疫苗的需求规划具有挑战性。目的是分析其他国家如何管理季节性流感疫苗的需求规划，并为德国季节性（流感）疫苗需求规划系统提供启示。
采用两阶段方法。第一步，对德国需求规划系统进行分析以确定关键挑战。第二步，对可比国家的解决方案策略进行分析。为此，根据不同的医疗保健系统和结构选择了六个比较国家（澳大利亚、加拿大、英国、新加坡、瑞士、美国）。在PubMed、谷歌学术以及机构和组织网站上进行了针对性搜索。通过与卫生部和其他相关机构的电子邮件通信获取了更多信息。此外，通过书面调查联系了所选国家的制药行业专家。
德国流感疫苗需求规划中确定的挑战包括当前需求规划系统缺乏可靠性、官僚负担、缺乏约束性订单、全科医生的财务责任、疫苗废弃以及重新订购的可能性有限。在六个比较国家中确定了各种方法。其中一些已在德国系统中实施，其他方法可以应对德国季节性流感疫苗需求规划中的挑战。这些方法包括疫苗预测方法、监测系统/疫苗接种登记册、订单中央平台、（提前）预订单、集中采购系统、过剩疫苗报销以及重新分配和返还系统。对不同方法进行了讨论并相互关联，以应对德国系统的挑战。
已确定了几种可能适合应对德国（流感）疫苗需求规划系统挑战的方法。未来，有必要进行进一步调查，以评估其在卫生政策层面的潜在可行性和实施情况。
