Calendar of preventive vaccinations in Ukraine: history of implementation and list of vaccines

Introduction. The World Health Organization notes that vaccination is a global health success story that saves millions of lives. Every year, thanks to it, it is possible to prevent 2.5-5 million deaths from such diseases as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, influenza and measles. That is why this procedure is one of the best investments in human health. Material & methods. The research materials were the orders of the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Ukraine and data from the State Register of Medicines of Ukraine. Data systematization (a cognitive process of organizing a set of information), comparative analysis (identification of differences and finding commonalities in them) and generalization (definition of a general concept that reflects the main) were used among the research methods. Results & discussion. In Ukraine, the calendar of preventive vaccinations was approved by the Order of the MoH of Ukraine No. 14 dated January 25, 1996 (expired) in accordance with Articles 27, 30, 33 of the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Sanitary and Epidemic Welfare of the Population", Regulations on the MoH of Ukraine, the National Program of Immunoprophylaxis among population for 1993-2000. This order was valid until November 15, 2000. As of now, the order of the MoH No. 595 dated September 16, 2011, which was last amended on June 21, 2022, is in force. The study of the history of the introduction of the national calendar of preventive vaccinations in accordance with the above mentioned orders of the MoH of Ukraine from 1996 to the present showed that during this time the vaccination scheme against measles has not changed, while against tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, epidemic parotitis and rubella – have changed, mainly regarding the timing of revaccinations. Also, since 2011, vaccination against hepatitis B has been included in the calendar of preventive vaccinations, which was previously applied only to persons from risk groups (drug addicts, patients with venereal diseases, etc.). As for ensuring the calendar of preventive vaccinations with vaccines, 30 such medicines are currently registered (as of April 2024), in the production of which 39 manufacturers from different countries are involved, the most of which are from Belgium and India (8 each, 20.5% each), France (6, 15.4%), Hungary (5, 12.8%), and Indonesia (4, 10.3%). The most vaccines are of such manufacturing companies as Sanofy (France, Hungary, Canada) (12 vaccines, 30.8%), GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals S.A., Belgium (8, 20.5%) and Serum Institute of India. Pvt. Ltd., India (7, 17.9%). As for the number of vaccine components, the largest number (10 vaccines, 33.3%) is intended for vaccination against one of the diseases (hepatitis B, tuberculosis, measles, poliomyelitis of types 1, 2, 3, poliomyelitis of types 1 and 3), and in general, all researched vaccines are designed to prevent from one to six infectious diseases. Conclusion. The calendar of preventive vaccination in Ukraine was implemented by order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in 1996. Changes in the calendar during its existence mainly concerned vaccination schemes against tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, epidemic parotitis and rubella, and since 2011 hepatitis B vaccination was introduced as mandatory. The calendar of preventive vaccinations provides for the prevention of 10 infectious diseases, for this there are appropriate vaccines in Ukraine – 30 medicines (vaccines to prevent from one to six diseases), in the production of which 39 manufacturing companies from 11 countries are involved.