Methodological guidance: Costing an immunization campaign

Immunization campaigns are a vital delivery strategy to improve coverage and decrease morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases. Campaigns are used more frequently to administer a greater variety of vaccines and reach a broader range of target populations as integral parts of the immunization program. It is crucial that the costs of different immunization campaigns, including those integrated with the delivery of other health interventions, are accurately estimated to inform planning, budgeting, and resource mobilization.

Although various guidance documents cover the costing of health interventions and routine immunization programs specifically, none discuss the specifics of costing immunization campaigns. This new guide offers methodological advice for field researchers, country practitioners, and academics worldwide on costing an immunization campaign. This guide complements the literature on costing studies with specific methodological considerations for immunization campaigns, clear instructions fitting potential scenarios, and concrete examples. It is intended to improve the standardization of campaign costing processes and reporting, enhance the availability and comparability of evidence, and improve its use by country and global stakeholders.

The main guide is accompanied by supplementary materials for more tips on data collection, practical examples and tools: 

1. How to cost an immunization campaign? Methodological guidance 

2. Key differences between routine and campaign costing (one-pager)

3. Practical tips on data collection and reporting for immunization campaign costing studies

4. Frequently asked questions about campaign costing

5. Data collection tools for facility, district, state and national level and a user manual.

6. Practical examples in Excel and R for how to calculate unit costs, annualizing capital costs and use the calibration method in R with a guide to the code. You can download R using this link.  

If you have any feedback or questions on these materials, please contact immunizationeconomics@thinkwell.global