Appropriate methods for impactful advices

MMGH uses a combination of rigorous academic research, specialist knowledge, industry-specific experience, and state-of-the-art tools to provide trusted advice and implementable solutions for vaccine-preventable and neglected tropical diseases, and programmes.

Defintion of use cases - the Seven Ws approach

MMGH supports clients’ efforts to develop the most appropriate vaccines and medical products, deploy them effectively, and enable equitable access. As part of this work, the topic of how those products are used in the field has emerged as one of the most critical for them to achieve maximum health impact.

This emerging awareness has led to interaction and insightful discussions with many colleagues in the global health community. As a result, we have formalised a methodology called the “Seven Ws” that facilitates a structured investigation of how vaccines and medical products are, and can be used. Putting the users and their needs at the centre of the processes for designing products, policies, and strategies will greatly help maximise their usability, access and, ultimately, health impact.

We are convinced of the value of knowledge sharing and mutual continuous enrichment of methods; therefore, we decided to adopt an open-source approach, making this methodology fully available to anyone interested in adopting it.

Better defining use cases for new and existing vaccines and drugs

Over the past years, MMGH Consulting has worked to better define use cases for vaccines and drugs for existing (influenza) and new vaccines (schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis); vaccines on microarray patches (MAPs) against measles and rubella (MR), measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), and typhoid (TCV), drugs for neglected tropical diseases (onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis), and diagnostics for cholera. This work led to many interactions and insightful discussions with colleagues.

These interactions highlighted the need to clarify how different medical products are used, and to put the users’ perspective at the core of decisions that concern product development, policy, and implementation. Leveraging the project work, we have developed this method paper that provides clarity on the definitions used and the steps in defining and applying use cases in the fields of immunization and neglected tropical diseases.

We hope that this approach will stimulate further discussion and ultimately assist in increasing the user focus in the immunization and neglected tropical diseases work. With this perspective in mind, we encourage anyoneto adopt this method and contribute to its further refinement.
The 7 Ws approach to developing Use Cases for Vaccines, Diagnostics and Treatment of Neglected Tropical Diseases
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