# Optimizing vaccine distribution networks in low and middle-income countries

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.13434 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.13434/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 25 Jul 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Vaccine allocation policy optimization and budget sharing mechanism using Thompson sampling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.10004/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Vaccination has been proven to be the most effective method to prevent infectious diseases. However, there are still millions of children in low and middle-income countries who are not covered by routine vaccines and remain at risk. The World Health Organization - Expanded Programme on Immunization (WHO-EPI) was designed to provide universal childhood vaccine access for children across the world and in this work, we address the design of the distribution network for WHO-EPI vaccines. In particular, we formulate the network design problem as a mixed integer program (MIP) and present a new algorithm for typical problems that are too large to be solved using commercial MIP software. We test the algorithm using data derived from four different countries in sub-Saharan Africa and show that the algorithm is able to obtain high-quality solutions for even the largest problems within a few minutes.