The Vaccine Economics Research for Sustainability and Equity (VERSE) team at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health International Vaccine Access Center (JHU-IVAC) is conducting the ‘Economic Benefit-Cost Ratios from Continuing Routine Immunization During COVID-19 Lockdown in Africa’ study. Their research is estimating benefit-cost ratios of continuing routine immunization services during the COVID-19 pandemic in African countries. This work builds on a recently published study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that estimated the benefit-risk ratio for continuing routine immunization services.
Researchers will estimate the cost of vaccine-preventable child deaths caused by a six-month pause of routine immunization services in Africa using three approaches: 1) cost-of-illness, which includes averted treatment costs, transportation costs, caregiver wages lost, and productivity loss; 2) value of statistical life, the average value societies place on reducing the risk of death; and 3) value of statistical life-year, which is an age-adjusted application of the value of statistical life approach. The analysis will include cost estimates for excess deaths from eight vaccine-preventable diseases: Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B, Streptococcus pneumoniae, rotavirus, measles, meningitis A, and yellow fever, and compare them to costs of COVID-19 deaths attributable to routine immunization activity.
This analysis will demonstrate the significant economic costs associated with suspending routine immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the large number of VPDs with significant disease burden in Africa and the drastically different age distribution of disease burden of these existing VPDs and COVID-19, the benefits of sustaining immunization services far exceed the risks due to COVID-19 in both health and economic terms.
Preliminary results suggest that the benefits of continuing immunization far outweigh the risk of COVID-19 deaths. Economic estimates provide additional insight for vaccine advocates and country governments in the African region as they prioritize health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Preliminary estimates were completed in July 2020, analysis is underway and the final results expected in September 2020.
For more information, please contact Libby Watts (ewatts13@jhu.edu) or Bryan Patenaude (bpatena1@jhu.edu).