Public health impact and return on investment of the pediatric immunization program in Poland

ABSTRACT

Background

This study aims to evaluate the epidemiological impact and return on investment of the pediatric immunization program (PIP) in Poland from the healthcare-sector and societal perspectives.

Research design and methods

A health-economic model was developed focusing on the nine vaccines, targeting 11 pathogens, recommended by the public health authorities for children aged 0–6 years in Poland. The 2019 birth cohort (388,178) was followed over their lifetime, with the model estimating discounted health outcomes, life-years gained, quality-adjusted life-years, and direct and indirect costs with and without the PIP based on current and pre-vaccine – era disease incidence estimates, respectively.

Results

Across 11 targeted pathogens, the Polish PIP prevented more than 452,300 cases of disease, 1,600 deaths, 37,900 life-years lost, and 38,800 quality-adjusted life-years lost. The PIP was associated with vaccination costs of €54 million. Pediatric immunization averted €65 million from a healthcare-sector perspective (benefit–cost ratio [BCR], 2.2) and averted €358 million from a societal perspective (BCR, 7.6). The BCRs from both perspectives remained >1.0 in scenario analyses.

Conclusions

The Polish PIP, which has not previously been systematically assessed, brings large-scale prevention of disease-related morbidity, premature mortality, and associated costs. This analysis highlights the value of continued investment in pediatric immunization in Poland.

KEYWORDS:

• Vaccination
• benefit–cost ratio
• model
• pediatric
• return on investment

Declaration of interest

C Mellott, J Carrico, S Talbird, and M Clinkscales are employed (or were employed at the time of the analysis) by RTI Health Solutions, which received funding from Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., and Rahway, NJ, U.S.A., for the conduct of this study. R Jaworski is an employee of MSD Polska Sp and owns stock in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, U.S.A. G Bencina is an employee of MSD Spain and owns stock in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, U.S.A. E Karamousouli is an employee of MSD Greece, and owns stock in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, U.S.A. A Eiden is an employee of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, and owns stock in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, U.S.A. U Sabale is an employee of MSD Lithuania, and owns stock in Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, U.S.A. I Dobrowolska was employed by HealthQuest Sp. z o.o., Warsaw, Poland, at the time of study. D Golicki is employed by HealthQuest Sp. z o.o., Warsaw, Poland, and is a shareholder in HealthQuest Sp. z o.o., Warsaw, Poland, which received funding from MSD Polska Sp. z o.o. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or material discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author contributions

CEM participated in the conception, design, and planning of the study; in the acquisition and analysis of the data; in the interpretation of the results; and in the drafting of the manuscript and critically reviewing and revising it for important intellectual content. RJ participated in the acquisition and analysis of the data; in the interpretation of the results; and in the drafting of the manuscript and critically reviewing and revising it for important intellectual content. JC participated in the conception, design, and planning of the study; in the acquisition and analysis of the data; in the interpretation of the results; and in the drafting of the manuscript and critically reviewing and revising it for important intellectual content. SET participated in the conception, design, and planning of the study; in the acquisition and analysis of the data; in the interpretation of the results; and in the drafting of the manuscript and critically reviewing and revising it for important intellectual content. ID participated in the acquisition and analysis of the data; in the interpretation of the results; and in the drafting of the manuscript and critically reviewing and revising it for important intellectual content. DG participated in the acquisition and analysis of the data; in the interpretation of the results; and in the drafting of the manuscript and critically reviewing and revising it for important intellectual content. GB participated in the conception, design, and planning of the study; in the interpretation of the results; and in the drafting of the manuscript and critically reviewing and revising it for important intellectual content. MC participated in the conception, design, and planning of the study; in the acquisition and analysis of the data; in the interpretation of the results; and in the critically reviewing and revising of the manuscript for important intellectual content. EK participated in the interpretation of the results and in critically reviewing and revising the manuscript for important intellectual content. AE participated in the interpretation of the results and in critically reviewing and revising the manuscript for important intellectual content. The US participated in the interpretation of the results and in critically reviewing and revising the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors gave final approval for the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for the content of the work.

Previous presentations

This work was presented in preliminary form as: Mellott C, Jaworski R, Carrico J, Clinkscales M, Talbird S, Dobrowolska I, Golicki D, Tsoumani E, Sabale U. Public health impact and return on investment of the pediatric immunization program in Poland. Poster presented at the ISPOR Europe 2022; 6 November 2022. Vienna, Austria

Acknowledgments

Kate Lothman of RTI Health Solutions provided medical writing support for the development of this manuscript. These services were funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.

Ethical approval and patient consent

This study did not directly involve any human participants; therefore, ethical review and approval in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements was not required nor was informed consent required.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2023.2275712

Additional information

Funding

The manuscript was funded by Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.