Introduction: The scope and schedule of immunization in Poland is regulated by the Immunization Programme prepared and announced by the State Sanitary Inspector. There are two kinds of vaccines: compulsory vaccines, financed by the state budget at the disposal of the Minister of Health, and vaccines recommended by the central health authorities but financed by local governments within health policy programmes. Compulsory vaccines cover people up to 19 years of age and individuals at higher risk of infections. The public health programmes organized and financed by local governments play an important role in infectious disease control in the country.
Objective: The objective of this study is to analyse health policy programmes including immunization programmes, which were developed, implemented and financed by local government units of all levels in Poland between 2016 and 2019.
Material and methods: This analysis covers data compiled by voivodes and submitted to the Minister of Health as annual information on public health tasks carried out by local government units. From the aggregate information, data on all health policy programmes conducted by individual local government units between 2016 and 2019, including immunization, were extracted and analysed. The data were obtained pursuant to the provisions of the act on access to public information.
Results: In the analysed period, local government units implemented a total of 1737 health policy programmes that financed the purchase of vaccines, qualification tests for immunization and carrying out immunization by authorized medical entities. Among the vast majority of programmes, promotional activities were also implemented.
Conclusions: In Poland, local governments are deeply engaged in the immunization of their citizens by organizing and financing specific health care programmes. These programmes are an essential addition to the state financial resources in infectious disease control. This engagement expresses local government maturity regarding the health needs of the population and public health measures. Communes are the most engaged units among all levels of local governments. It is probably due to close mutual communication between the people and local governments. The growing awareness of the important role of HPV immunization in the prevention of cervical cancer among local government units is reflected in the increase in the number of girls vaccinated against HPV and the increase in financial resources allocated for primary HPV prevention. The decrease in the number of people vaccinated against pneumococci may result from including pneumococcal vaccines in the compulsory immunization schedule.
Keywords: health policy programmes; immunization; primary prevention.