Mumps vaccines: WHO position paper

In accordance with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters, WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have

an international public health impact. These papers, which are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes, summarize

essential background information on the respective diseases and vaccines, and conclude with the current WHO position concerning their use in the global context.

The papers have been reviewed by a number of experts within and outside of WHO, and since April 2006 they are reviewed and endorsed by WHO’s strategic Advisory Group of Experts on vaccines and immunization. The position papers are designed for use mainly by national public health officials and managers of immunization

programmes. However, they may also be of interest to international funding agencies, the vaccine manufacturing industry, the medical community and the scientific media.