By law the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) has the mandate to develop recommendations for carrying out vaccinations and other measures of specific prophylaxis of communicable diseases. Currently, the committee has 18 members who meet 3 times per year to discuss and vote on recommendations. The secretariat of STIKO is located at the Immunization Unit of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). In 2011 the STIKO adopted a new standard operating procedure (SOP) for the development of evidence-based vaccination recommendations. Using methods of evidence-based medicine, the respective STIKO working group, comprised of STIKO members, RKI staff and external experts, develops a draft recommendation on which the commission votes. After conclusion of the external consultation procedure the vaccination recommendation is considered by the Federal Joint Committee and in the case of a positive vote, is incorporated into the guidelines for protective vaccination and therefore becomes a mandatory service of the statutory health insurance. This article provides an overview on the organization and modes of functioning of the STIKO.
Keywords: Evidence-based medicine; Grading of recommendations, assessment, development and evaluation; Standard operating procedure; Systematic literature review; Vaccination.