Vaccination programmes save health systems billions, says new modelling

Adult vaccination programmes can return up to 19 times their initial investment, saving health systems billions, according to new modelling.

The report by the Office of Health Economics (OHE) comes ahead of World Immunisation Week which starts on Wednesday.

Its key recommendations include adopting a “prevention-first” mindset in order to keep people out of hospital where possible.

The ‘first-of-its-kind’ study showed that such adult vaccine programmes can save health systems like the NHS up to $4,637 per individual vaccinated.

The savings are made because many fewer people end up in hospitals needing expensive treatments.

Costs offset ‘multiple times over’

The research, which was funded by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, focused on vaccines that protected against flu, shingles, pneumococcal disease and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

It looked at a wide range of vaccine programmes in ten countries, covering a range of healthcare systems, demographics and vaccine schedules, including Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, South Africa and the United States.

The report concluded that the four vaccination programmes avert substantial costs to healthcare systems and are highly cost-effective.

Increasing pneumococcal vaccination coverage of older adults in Australia from 50% to 100% was estimated to result in cost-savings to healthcare systems, primarily by reducing acute coronary syndrome in healthy older adults, a separate 2021 study found.

The WHO Immunisation Agenda 2030 has also called for heightened awareness and national strategies to ensure immunisations throughout life.

Professor Lotte Steuten, Deputy CEO of OHE, and co-author of the report, said: “Our findings show that costs are offset multiple times over by benefits to society when governments invest in adult immunisation programmes.”

Laetitia Bigger, IFPMA Vaccines Policy Director added: “It is critical that these benefits are better understood if we are to ensure that people who can benefit from adult immunisation programmes are able to access them.”

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