title: Demand for pneumococcal vaccination under subsidy program for the elderly in Japan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vaccination programs often organize subsidies and public relations in order to obtain high uptake rates and coverage. However, effects of subsidies and public relations have not been studied well in the literature. In this study, the demand function of pneumococcal vaccination among the elderly in Japan is estimated, incorporating effects of public relations and subsidy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a data from a questionnaire survey sent to municipalities, the varying and constant elasticity models were applied to estimate the demand function. The response variable is the uptake rate. Explanatory variables are: subsidy supported shot price, operating years of the program, target population size for vaccination, shot location intensity, income and various public relations tools. The best model is selected by c-AIC, and varying and constant price elasticities are calculated from estimation results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The vaccine uptake rate and the shot price have a negative relation. From the results of varying price elasticity, the demand for vaccination is elastic at municipalities with a shot price higher than 3,708 JPY (35.7 USD). Effects of public relations on the uptake rate are not found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It can be suggested that municipalities with a shot price higher than 3,708 JPY (35.7 USD) could subsidize more and reduce price to increase the demand for vaccination. Effects of public relations are not confirmed in this study, probably due to measurement errors of variables used for public relations, and studies at micro level exploring individual's response to public relations would be required.
authors.affiliation: University of Tsukuba, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, Department of Health Care Policy and Management, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahide
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamamura
authors.forename: Shu-Ling
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hoshi
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Okubo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000191:economics; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs; D007564:Japan; D015233:Models, Statistical; D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines / Q000191:economics* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D011018:Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D022242:Pneumococcal Vaccines