Despite their proven societal and economic benefits, funding for immunization programs remains disproportionately low and vulnerable to economic shocks. A new analysis from the Office of Health Economics examines funding for immunization and vaccine-preventable health outcomes and coverage across 10 countries from 2016 to 2022.
The findings include that low spending on immunization contrasts with the value of immunization, with expenditure averaging only 0.08% of GDP among analyzed countries, low compared to healthcare spending. Funding for immunization is often among the first to be cut during economic downturns. Data gaps were found to hinder effective policy-making and monitoring, with limited data on immunization spending disaggregated by age group and program, as well as coverage data for adult vaccines. Policy recommendations from the report include prioritizing valuable immunization programs, increasing and stabilizing funding, enhancing program effectiveness and improving data collection and reporting.
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