If the Government fully implemented national immunisation programmes for Influenza, Pneumococcal Disease, Herpes Zoster and Respiratory Syncytial Virus there would be a return of up to €23 to society for every €1 spent by the Government, according to a new report by the Office of Health Economics (OHE).
The report, “The Value of Adult Vaccination in Ireland,” estimates the broader socio-economic value of adult immunisation programmes in the Republic of Ireland. It was commissioned by the global biopharma company, GSK, from the OHE, which is the world’s oldest independent health economics research organisation.
The OHE said it used a benefit-cost analysis (BCA) to compare costs and (monetised) broader benefits of each immunisation programme, as recommended by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC), against a counterfactual scenario where immunisation programmes were absent.
“The results showed that adult immunisation programmes for flu, PD, HZ and RSV in Ireland generated significant societal value. The BCA analysis showed that on average they returned 9 – 23 times their initial investment to society. The benefit-cost ratios range from €8 to €28 per €1 spent for influenza, €3 to €9 for RSV, €22 to €51 for PD, and €2 to €5 for herpes zoster immunisation programmes.
“On average, this delivers €1.3 – €4.8 billion in net monetary benefits per programme or, more specifically, up to €7,031 for one individual’s full vaccination course. The benefits of these four adult immunisation programmes affect individuals, the healthcare system, and wider society.”
The BCA analysis shows that in total:
- They prevent 375,807 disease cases.
- Save 16,555 life years.
- Avoid approximately 1,429 deaths from these diseases.
- Avert 73,731 hospitalisations (inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department) relieving hospital capacity, says the report.
The Office of Health Economics report concluded that NIAC recommended adult immunisation programmes in Ireland, as opposed to no implementation, were estimated to consistently produce a positive and substantial return on investment to Irish society.
“These findings align with and complement previous research (El-Banhawi, et al., 2024) which similarly reported a positive return on investment and overall benefits to individuals, healthcare systems, and society in countries including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, and the United States of America. This study represents a strong and novel evidence base for Ireland, based on which we can recommend policy makers in the Republic of Ireland to invest in prevention strategies including adult immunisation programmes.
“From the studied immunisation programmes, only the PD immunisation programme is currently implemented fully in line with the recommendations by NIAC. A full implementation of all studied NIAC recommended adult immunisation programmes would generate a significant socioeconomic benefit in the Republic of Ireland. Additionally, an expansion of access to nationally funded immunisation
Simon Brassel, Senior Principal Economist at OHE, said: “Adult immunisation programmes in Ireland offset their costs multiple times through benefits to individuals, the healthcare system and wider society and play a crucial role in enabling Irish people to live longer, healthier and better lives. However, coverage and reimbursement decisions are often hampered by an underestimation of their full socioeconomic value. If all the NIAC recommended adult immunisation programmes studied were fully implemented we would see the generation of considerable societal value on top of large health gains for individuals.”
