The Immunization Costing Action Network (ICAN) team is pleased to share new and updated resources on immunization delivery costs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
The ICAN team learned a lot over the course of our three-year project, which was supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For example, did you know that:
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Over 650 unit costs from more than 30 LMICs are now available in an easily accessible, standardized format? Stop endlessly searching the internet and access our catalogue to see if we have data from your country of interest.
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Facility-based delivery in Indonesia is more costly than outreach delivery. This is because of Indonesia’s unique outreach format. Read more in the Indonesia country costing study report.
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Over 50 individuals from nearly two dozen organizations have been involved in ICAN efforts over the last three years? Our hats off to all of you for your collaboration and outstanding contributions to immunization costing!
Read on for more about ICAN’s new resources.
Updated Immunization Delivery Cost Catalogue (IDCC)
The ICAN team updated the systematic review behind the IDCC, producing new data, analytics and companion products. As a reminder, the systematic review behind the IDCC aimed to answer the question: What are the unit costs of vaccine delivery across different LMICs and through a variety of delivery strategies? The review considered over 17,000 resources published between January 2005 and March 2019, ultimately drawing from 68 articles and reports with cost data on a variety of vaccines, delivery strategies, types of cost analysis, and contextual settings.
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Over 250 new unit costs: Both the IDCC Excel workbook and web tool contain the most up-to-date cost evidence published since January 2005 for LMICs, all presented in 2016 US dollars for easy comparison and use. Over 650 unit costs from 30+ countries are now available (Figure 1).
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Updated interpretive products: To navigate the tools and learn how to best use them for research, advocacy, or budgeting, check out our how-to videos and user guides.
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Immunization delivery cost analytics: A descriptive and gap analysis of the existing data is available in our summary report, along with nine cost ranges that summarize the global evidence on the incremental costs of introducing single vaccines, and the costs of delivering a schedule of vaccines.
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A look beneath the hood: To better understand the methodology employed for the systematic review and cost analytics effort, consult our updated methodology note.
Still haven’t used the IDCC? For PATH’s Center of Vaccine Innovation and Access, it has been a valuable resource to help locate relevant delivery cost estimates, categorize studies that might be relevant for different vaccines or delivery strategies, and easily understand study characteristics:
“Our team has used this resource to inform cost-effectiveness analyses of rotavirus vaccination and RSV vaccination across low- and middle-income countries. We have also used the IDCC to inform multiple country-specific studies and provide information from the literature to country decision-makers. In short, the IDCC is a valuable and comprehensive resource for immunization cost information.” [Clint Pecenka]
New materials on the costs of immunization delivery in Indonesia, Tanzania, and Vietnam
Newly released, policy-oriented findings from ICAN’s member countries – Indonesia, Tanzania, and Vietnam – have provided evidence to address challenges at the top of each country’s immunization financing agenda:
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Indonesia: What are the costs of delivering vaccines using different delivery strategies in high coverage areas? The study found that school delivery was least costly, followed by outreach, primarily due to high volumes. Facility-based delivery was most costly due to low volumes.
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Tanzania: What does it cost to immunize children up to 18 months of age using the current mix of delivery strategies in rural and urban areas? The study found the cost per dose was lowest at rural facilities with nomads in their catchment population, followed by urban facilities, and then rural facilities without nomads. Outreach delivery is more than three times as expensive as facility-based delivery, but the magnitude of the difference varies immensely by geography.
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Vietnam: What are the costs associated with introducing Tetanus-Diphtheria (Td) vaccine and ceasing delivery of Tetanus-Typhoid (TT) vaccine? The study found school-based delivery to be cheapest and outreach and campaign delivery to be most expensive. When compared with the cost of the current TT program from 2018-2025, the findings showed that a cost saving of US$6.9 million could be realized if introducing Td in schools, compared with a cost saving of US$4.2 million for facility-based introduction. An additional cost of US$2.3 million would be incurred over that period if a combination of facility and outreach delivery would be used.
A suite of resources is available on each country study: an executive summary of methods and findings, a full study report, a summary PowerPoint presentation, and an “Evidence to Policy” plan for how the findings can be used for program improvement, planning and budgeting, and other policy decisions. The resources can be found here: http://immunizationeconomics.org/ican-country-research.
About the ICAN
With technical facilitation by ThinkWell and John Snow, Inc. (JSI), the Immunization Costing Action Network (ICAN) was a project supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. From 2016 to 2019, the ICAN focused on increasing the visibility, availability, understanding, and use of data on the cost of delivering vaccines. ICAN aimed to build country capacity around generation and use of cost information to work towards sustainable and predictable financing for vaccine delivery. See http://immunizationeconomics.org/ican for more information.