The socio-economic value of adult immunisation programmes

Global demographic changes and health challenges are putting ever-greater pressure on healthcare systems and society more broadly. Adult immunisation programmes are a potentially powerful tool for policymakers to ease those pressures.

This report provides evidence for adult immunisation programmes across ten countries and four vaccines showing that adult immunisation programmes offset their costs multiple times through benefits to individuals, the healthcare system, and wider society.

In particular, benefit-cost analysis of the same vaccines showed that adult vaccines can return up to 19 times their initial investment to society, when their significant benefits beyond the healthcare system are monetised.

This is the equivalent of billions of dollars in net monetary benefits to society, or more concretely, up to $4637 for one individual's full vaccination course.

Despite increasing recognition of the broader value of vaccination, substantial evidence gaps remain, leading to underestimation of vaccine value and risking suboptimal policy decisions.

Governments are recommended to adopt a prevention-first mindset to help ease increasing pressures on health systems and society, with adult immunisation playing a crucial role in enabling us to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives.

Download this OHE report, commissioned by IFPMA, to learn more about the socio-economic value of adult vaccination programmes on individual lives and societies at large.