Health economics of new and under-used vaccines in developing countries: state-of-the-art analyses for hepatitis B and rotavirus in Vietnam

PhD ceremony: Ms. T.H.A. Tu, 14.30 uur, Aula Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: Health economics of new and under-used vaccines in developing countries: state-of-the-art analyses for hepatitis B and rotavirus in Vietnam

Promotor(s): prof. M.J. Postma

Faculty: Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Childhood vaccination in Vietnam is crucial for reducing infant mortality, concludes Hong Anh Thi Tu. Vietnam is a country, where universal childhood immunization has been successfully accomplished through the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI). Currently, nine routine childhood vaccines have been included into the EPI and in the future new vaccines will be added to the program. Vietnam has received substantial technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and financial support from international organizations such as the Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) for the EPI activities. Thus far, very few cost-effectiveness analyses or economic evaluations on childhood vaccination have been conducted in Vietnam despite the importance of health economic evaluations in assessing health care interventions.

Motivated by this, Tu decided to carry out cost-effectiveness analyses on hepatitis B and rotavirus vaccination, representing for under-used and new vaccines, respectively. The former is an existing vaccine in the EPI and the latter a newly recommended vaccine by the WHO. Her goal was to provide concrete health economic evidence to the government and to international organizations who commit to provide support to immunization in the developing world. In-depth and advanced analyses were carried out by her on hepatitis B and rotavirus vaccination.