A study published in the Lancet Public Health assessed four vaccines in terms of their disease burdens, coverage, inequalities, and cost-effectiveness in China and aimed to recommend priorities for introducing them to the National Immunization Program.
Based on analysis using available evidence, incorporating pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), rotavirus vaccine, Haemophilus influenzae serotype b (Hib) vaccine, and varicella vaccine into China’s National Immunization Program in 2019 could have averted 11,761 deaths among children younger than 5 years, accounting for 10.29% of the total deaths in children younger than 5 years and reducing the mortality rate from 7.8 per 1000 to 7.0 per 1000. The review showed that 13-valent PCV (PCV13) had the lowest and most inequitable coverage but could prevent the highest number of deaths. In a budgetary analysis for the cohort of newborns in 2023, the projected aggregate government costs were estimated at US$1954.92 million for PCV13, $1273.13 million for pentavalent rotavirus vaccine, $415.30 million for Hib vaccine, and $221.64 million for varicella vaccine.
The overall multicriteria decision analysis suggested the following priority order for introducing these four non-program vaccines to the National Immunization Program to benefit the Chinese population: PCV13, rotavirus vaccine, Hib vaccine, and varicella vaccine.
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