A new study in Vaccine draws methodological considerations and recommendations for other countries based on retrospective micro-costing studies of pre-COVID-19 pandemic vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) surveillance in Nepal and Ethiopia.
The two studies were found to have used similar perspectives and VPD inclusion criteria. Costs in Nepal were collected and analyzed by a subset of surveillance core and support functions, whereas the Ethiopia study categorized costs using surveillance support functions from the Global Strategy on Comprehensive VPD Surveillance. Results from the samples in both studies were extrapolated country-wide using sampling weights and assumptions about the representativeness of purposively sampled units.
The review highlighted potential methodologic tradeoffs in utility and precision of results based on the lessons learned from two country VPD surveillance cost studies. The advantages of collecting and using cost estimates by VPD surveillance core versus support function for program budgeting for varied audiences should be explored in future studies. Sampling strategies should be developed with consideration for the precision needed for the intended use of costing results. The resulting recommendations can improve and standardize the conduct and interpretation of future such studies.
Thumbnail image credit: WHO / Nitsebiho Asrat
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