New project from KEMRI-Wellcome Trust and collaborators seeks to enhance the use of economic evidence in vaccine policy-making in Africa

A new Wellcome Trust funded project, conducted by KEMRI-Wellcome Trust, the University of Nigeria and the University of Zambia, seeks to enhance the use of economic evidence in vaccine policymaking in Africa.

Low- and middle-income countries face the twin health financing problem of overall resource scarcity and decreasing donor support. This is especially evident in the funding for vaccines, where donor funding plays a key role, and the main donor (Gavi, the Global Alliance) is implementing a transition plan, progressively shifting funding responsibility to countries. A key strategy to respond to this challenge is the use of explicit, evidence-informed decision-making processes that incorporate economic evidence into vaccine policy making. This can help optimize the value and impact of country vaccine programs within the resources available.

This project focuses on three key objectives:

1. Support the use of economic methods in vaccine decision-making by developing quality-adjusted life year (QALY) value sets that will improve the validity of cost-effectiveness analysis in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia.
2. Model the cost-effectiveness of priority vaccines in Kenya (measles vaccine, typhoid conjugate vaccine and malaria vaccine), Nigeria (measles vaccine, pentavalent meningococcal vaccine-Men5CV, and malaria vaccines), and Zambia (measles vaccine, HPV vaccine, and malaria vaccine).
3. Engage policymakers in these three countries to use economic evidence to optimize the impact and value for money of their vaccination programs.

This project aims to contribute to sustainable and impactful immunization programs in Africa and runs through December 2026.