TY - JOUR
T1 - Overcoming perceptions of financial barriers to rotavirus vaccine introduction in Asia
AU - Nelson, E. Anthony S.
AU - De Quadros, Ciro A.
AU - Santosham, Mathuram
AU - Parashar, Umesh D.
AU - Steele, Duncan
N1 - Funding Information:
EASN has participated in a vaccine studies funded by Baxter, GlaxoSmith-Kline, MedImmune, and Wyeth, has received funding to conduct disease surveillance studies from Merck and Pfizer, and lecture fees and travel support from GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Intercell, and Pfizer. The other authors have declared that no competing interests exist
PY - 2013/11
Y1 - 2013/11
N2 - Despite a WHO recommendation in 2009, reaffirmed in 2013, that all countries should consider introducing rotavirus vaccines into their National Immunization Programs, as of June 2013 only 45 have done so. One major consideration appears to have been the costs of the vaccine to countries. Of concern is that Asian countries have been slow to introduce rotavirus vaccines despite having robust data that could inform the decision-making process. Although decisions on new vaccine introduction are very complex and vary by country and region, economic evaluations are often pivotal once vaccine efficacy and safety has been established, and disease burden documented and communicated. Unfortunately, with private sector list prices of vaccines often used in economic evaluations, rather than a potential public health sector pricing structure, policymakers may defer decisions on rotavirus vaccine introduction based on the belief that "the vaccine price is too high," even though this might be based on erroneous data. The Pan American Health Organization's Revolving Fund provides one example of how vaccine price can be made more competitive and transparent through a regional tendering process. Other mechanisms, such as tiered pricing and UNICEF procurement, also exist that could help Asian and other countries move forward more quickly with rotavirus vaccine introduction.
AB - Despite a WHO recommendation in 2009, reaffirmed in 2013, that all countries should consider introducing rotavirus vaccines into their National Immunization Programs, as of June 2013 only 45 have done so. One major consideration appears to have been the costs of the vaccine to countries. Of concern is that Asian countries have been slow to introduce rotavirus vaccines despite having robust data that could inform the decision-making process. Although decisions on new vaccine introduction are very complex and vary by country and region, economic evaluations are often pivotal once vaccine efficacy and safety has been established, and disease burden documented and communicated. Unfortunately, with private sector list prices of vaccines often used in economic evaluations, rather than a potential public health sector pricing structure, policymakers may defer decisions on rotavirus vaccine introduction based on the belief that "the vaccine price is too high," even though this might be based on erroneous data. The Pan American Health Organization's Revolving Fund provides one example of how vaccine price can be made more competitive and transparent through a regional tendering process. Other mechanisms, such as tiered pricing and UNICEF procurement, also exist that could help Asian and other countries move forward more quickly with rotavirus vaccine introduction.
KW - Advisory committee
KW - Evidence-based decision making
KW - Immunization financing
KW - Immunization policy
KW - National Immunization Technical Advisory Group
KW - Policy recommendations
KW - Rotavirus vaccine
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U2 - 10.4161/hv.26107
DO - 10.4161/hv.26107
M3 - Article
C2 - 23955246
AN - SCOPUS:84887424461
SN - 2164-5515
VL - 9
SP - 2418
EP - 2426
JO - Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics
JF - Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics
IS - 11
ER -