Cost-effectiveness modeling is a powerful tool for understanding the value of health interventions to populations. As Pragya Khurana and ICON’s Dr Richard Pitman explain, for vaccines that target infectious diseases, cost-effectiveness studies can help generate evidence and drive decision-making that can help keep people safe. can.
As the world saw with COVID-19, infectious diseases and the pandemics they cause can put huge strains on healthcare systems, especially in terms of workforce, resources, and funding. Almost three years after the initial outbreak began, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is still feeling the strain of the pandemic.Even today, many patients wait more than 12 hours Having to be admitted to accident and emergency departments, cancer patients are forced to delay treatment due to limited health care providers.
“It is clear from almost every measure of NHS performance that the system is under extreme strain,” said Dr Richard Pitman, Chief Health Economist and Epidemiologist at ICON. “In that environment, the cost of providing services has increased.”
Vaccines are both powerful public health tools and medical interventions to reduce the burden of infectious diseases, explained Pragya Khurana, an epidemiologist at ICON. By reducing the risk of illness not only for those who are vaccinated, but also for those around them, vaccines bring value to the healthcare system by reducing infections and improving patient outcomes.
But as the pandemic progresses, healthcare costs change, and more vaccines hit the market, how will these environmental factors affect the cost-effectiveness of vaccines over time?
• Read the full article in Pharmaphorum’s Deep Dive digital magazine
