The global value of vaccination

Abstract

While most agree that vaccination is one of the most important public health practices, vaccines continue to be underused and undervalued, and vaccine-preventable diseases remain a threat to world health. Perhaps one reason this gap remains is that decision-making generally is made on a vaccine-by-vaccine basis. There has been less attention to the value of vaccination in general. To more clearly identify this value, this paper reviews the cost-effectiveness literature and calculates the annual benefits of vaccination on a global scale.