Economic evaluations ofHaemophilus influenzaetype b vaccine: systematic review of the literature

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
With the arrival of new, more expensive vaccines, economic evaluation has become an important tool for assessing the feasibility of introducing a new vaccine into a country's routine immunization schedule. Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine has been available since the early 1990s, but uptake of the vaccine was slow in low-income countries until the GAVI Alliance started offering financial support for it. However, at some point, GAVI Alliance-supported countries will have to identify other sources of financing for Hib vaccine, meaning cost-effectiveness evidence will be important to support resource allocation decisions. Several middle-income countries have not yet introduced the vaccine. Thus, the aim of this literature review was to identify and evaluate the published evidence on the cost-effectiveness of the Hib vaccine, with particular emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. It is concluded that there are only few studies available from resource-poor countries and some of these are of low quality.