Vaccination: short- to long-term benefits from investment

In the context of current economic difficulties across Europe, accurate budgeting and resource allocation have become increasingly important. Vaccination programmes can respond to the needs of governments to budget with confidence. It may be more reliable and accurate to forecast budget and resource allocation for a vaccination programme than for unpredictable seasonal disease peaks of infections such as rotavirus gastroenteritis, influenza, and pneumonia. In addition, prevention through vaccination involves low levels of investment relative to the substantial benefits that may be obtained. In France, total lifelong vaccination costs, per fully compliant individual, ranged from €865 to €3,313, covering 12 to 16 diseases, which is comparable to, or lower than, costs of other preventive measures. In addition, effectively implemented vaccination programmes have the potential to generate substantial savings both in the short and in the long term. For example, vaccination programmes for rotavirus, meningitis C, human papillomavirus, influenza, and pneumonia have all been shown to significantly reduce the disease burden, and thus the associated costs, in the first years following vaccination implementation. These programmes demonstrate the potential for health authorities to obtain early, and often substantial, return on investment.