Politika sürecinde karar vermeme: Türkiye'de HPV aşıları konusu

Over the last decade, human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination emerged as a public health issue, claiming to prevent HPV related diseases, in major advanced capitalist countries such as the US, Canada, and the U.K. Although the inclusion of the HPV vaccine into the expanded immunisation programme (EIP) has been considered many times in Turkey, no development was recorded about the coverage of the vaccine over the years. In this thesis, I explore the underlying reasons of non-decision making in respect to inclusion of HPV vaccine into the EIP in Turkey. To this end, public policy approaches related to the use of power in policy making process are utilised. The non-decision making strategies employed by policy makers are investigated through policy actor interviews and document based analysis. The underlying reasons of non-decision making regarding HPV vaccine has demonstrated similar characteristics to those discussed in developed countries which already have included the vaccine in their national immunisation programmes. The HPV vaccine case in Turkey has been a conspicuous example of the fact that vaccination is not only a protection against prospective diseases. Rather, HPV vaccination debate in Turkey has economic, cultural and political dimensions.