title: The cost-effectiveness of introducing a varicella vaccine to the New Zealand immunisation schedule.
abstract: This study examined the cost-effectiveness of adding a varicella vaccine to an existing childhood immunisation schedule relative to a counterfactual where the varicella vaccine is available on a user-pays basis (the current New Zealand situation). The costs and consequences of chickenpox in an annual cohort of 57,200, 15-month old children were simulated for a 30-year period. The cohort simulation design captures the 'phasing-in' effects of routine varicella vaccination on the population. From a health care payer's perspective (medical costs only) every dollar invested in a vaccination programme would return NZ $0.67. However, from a societal point of view (which includes the value of work-loss), a vaccination programme would return NZ $2.79 for every dollar invested. To implement a varicella vaccination programme covering 80% of 15-month old children in New Zealand would add more than NZ $1 million in net direct (health care) costs each year. However, the indirect cost savings from reduced losses of work-time exceed NZ $2 million annually. The net average health care cost per child vaccinated over the 30-year modelling period was $54 whereas the cost-savings from work-loss averted averaged $101 per child vaccinated. Total cost-savings to society of $47 per child vaccinated, on average, could be gained from a vaccination programme. The finding that the addition to vaccination costs resulting from a routine programme (including the cost of complications from the vaccine) were greater than the offsetting health care cost savings from reduced incidence of chickenpox were robust to a sensitivity analysis on all assumptions within plausible ranges. Overall cost-effectiveness estimates were most sensitive to assumptions regarding lost work-time, the discount rate, and the price and efficacy of the vaccine. Estimates were relatively insensitive to changes in assumptions regarding health care utilisation.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia. p.scuffham@qut.edu.au
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scuffham
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Devlin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eberhart-Phillips
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wilson-Salt
mesh_terms: D002644:Chickenpox / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine / Q000191:economics*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017046:Cost Savings / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000191:economics*; D007223:Infant; D009520:New Zealand
chemical_list: D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine