title: The Social Value Of Vaccination Programs: Beyond Cost-Effectiveness.
abstract: In the current global environment of increased strain on health care budgets, all medical interventions have to compete for funding. Cost-effectiveness analysis has become a standard method to use in estimating how much value an intervention offers relative to its costs, and it has become an influential element in decision making. However, the application of cost-effectiveness analysis to vaccination programs fails to capture the full contribution such a program offers to the community. Recent literature has highlighted how cost-effectiveness analysis can neglect the broader economic impact of vaccines. In this article we also argue that socioethical contributions such as effects on health equity, sustaining the public good of herd immunity, and social integration of minority groups are neglected in cost-effectiveness analysis. Evaluations of vaccination programs require broad and multidimensional perspectives that can account for their social, ethical, and economic impact as well as their cost-effectiveness.
authors: Jeroen Luyten (J.luyten@lse.ac.uk) is a fellow in the Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics, in the United Kingdom.
authors: Jeroen
authors: J
authors: Luyten
authors: Philippe Beutels is a professor at the Centre for Health Economics Research and Modeling Infectious Diseases at the University of Antwerp, in Belgium.
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Beutels
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017048:Health Care Costs; D000069576:Health Equity; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000191:economics* / Q000941:ethics; D012945:Social Values; D014611:Vaccination / Q000191:economics* / Q000941:ethics
keywords: Determinants Of Health; Ethical Issues; Health Economics; Health Promotion/Disease Prevention; Public Health