Population Health

Our work

 

Australia has a wide range of large routinely collected population health data. The Population Health program area of NCIRS analyses these data alone or linked together to inform national vaccine policy development and immunisation program evaluation. It also aims to build capacity in the use of big-data resources in Australia to facilitate research and analysis to support better use of vaccines.

Key projects

  • COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness

    This project is being conducted in collaboration with NSW Health. It aims to assess COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in the NSW population. It uses Australian Immunisation Register data (COVID-19 vaccines) linked to NSW COVID-19 notifications, hospitalisations and deaths to examine the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. 

    Studies published from this project:

    Relative effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination with 3 compared to 2 doses against SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) among an Australian population with low prior rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection

    Read the full study here

    High attack rate of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 B.1.1.529 among 2-dose vaccinated populations in 2 indoor entertainment setting outbreaks

    Read the full study here
     

  • COVID-19 Australian Immunisation Register – Multi-Agency Data Integration Project

    The COVID-19 Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)–Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) project is being conducted in collaboration with the Health Economics Research Division (HERD) of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

    The aim of this project is to use MADIP linked to AIR data to inform the vaccine policy for COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.
    The MADIP project links various Commonwealth datasets such as: 

    • health (AIR, Medicare Benefits Schedule [MBS], Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme [PBS], Medicare Consumer Directory)
    • census 
    • taxation and social support (personal income tax, Centrelink)
    • migration (Traveller and Visa data)
    • disability (National Disability Insurance Scheme[NDIS])
    • death registrations
    • education.

    To date, the group has been advising on the use of the resource to examine COVID-19 vaccine coverage and to work in collaboration with other organisations to assess the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
     

  • Other projects

    A few other projects that are currently underway include:

    • Contributing linkage expertise to the vaccine safety work using linked data (Global Vaccine Data Network [GVDN] with AusVaxSafety)
    • Maternal vaccination in NSW using linked data
    • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) COVID-19 vaccine register demonstration project

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