Cost effectiveness of potential immunization interventions against diarrhoeal disease

Estimates are made of the costs per death averted and the costs per case prevented by three possible immunization interventions against diarrhoeal disease in children. These estimates are based on cost information collected from a number of on-going national immunization programmes and from effectiveness estimates reported in previously published reviews. The first part of the paper reviews the state of current knowledge regarding immunization costs and converts data from 9 different studies into a common set of price equivalents. The second section assesses the composition of typical immunization programme costs and estimates the likely effect on existing costs of introducing new vaccines. Compatibility betweem existing EPI activity and the administration schedule of the new vaccine is likely to be a major determinant of increments in cost per fully immunized child. The third section brings together the cost information with estimates of the likely impact of measles, rotavirus and new cholera vaccines on mortality and morbidity from diarrhoea.