Vaccination: the cornerstone of an efficient healthcare system

Abstract

Vaccination has made an important contribution to the decreased incidence of numerous infectious diseases and associated mortality. In 2013, it was estimated that 103 million cases of childhood diseases in the United States had been prevented by the use of vaccines since 1924. These health effects translate into positive economic results, as vaccination can provide significant savings by avoiding the direct and indirect costs associated with treating the disease and possible long-term disability. A recent US study estimated that every dollar spent on childhood vaccination could save US$3 from a payer perspective and US$10 from a societal perspective. The first vaccines set a high standard from a public health 'return on investment' perspective, because they are highly cost-saving. Today, however, where only a few healthcare interventions are considered to be cost-saving, the challenge that decision-makers typically face is to identify such healthcare interventions that are deemed cost-effective, that is, provide extra benefit at a reasonable extra cost. Some of the newer vaccines provide a solution to some of today's important health issues, such as cervical cancers with human papillomavirus vaccines, or debilitating diseases with herpes zoster vaccines. These recent, more expensive vaccines have been shown to be cost-effective in several economic analyses. Overall, vaccination can still be regarded as one of the most cost-effective healthcare interventions.

Keywords: cost-effectiveness; cost-saving; economic analysis; public health; vaccination.

Fig. 1

Comparison of the estimated annual morbidity in the United States in the pre- and post-vaccine eras (7).