Abstract for: Strengthening national vaccination delivery systems for displaced populations in protracted humanitarian crises in Lebanon

Vaccination coverage may be disrupted over time in environments where there are large-scale population movements, with an attendant risk that the incidence and severity of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) may increase. This study focuses on vaccination system responses to population movement in Lebanon, a country which hosts a large number of refugees from Syria, Palestine and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. In particular, the study considers [1] how the vaccination delivery system in Lebanon functions when exposed to large-scale population movements, and the system characteristics or capacities that may explain how and why the Lebanese national vaccination system has adapted (or otherwise) to new service pressures since the beginning of the Syria crisis, and [2] intervention strategies that are likely to reinforce system ability to maintain or exceed threshold vaccination coverage rates now and in the future. Findings presented will focus on the problem articulation and causal loop diagram phases of the study, and emphasise the analytical challenges posed by [1] data limitations in humanitarian crises, and [2] disaggregating system effects related to acute stressors (in this case, population movement) from chronic ones (vaccination system financing shortfalls, human resource shortages and so on).