Dealing with productivity losses in cost-effectiveness evaluations of vaccination

Abstract

With respect to cost-effectiveness evaluations of vaccination, a comprehensive review of the quality of analysis, in particularly, the handling of productivity losses, was conducted based on existing evaluation results of each country’s decision-making bodies and the WHO guidelines. The review revealed an extreme diversity of estimation methods as well as a slight discrepancy between the content described in the guidelines and the actual situation.
Instead of prescribing a single method for estimating productivity losses as a guideline when implementing studies on cost-effectiveness of vaccination for policy applications (examination of periodic vaccinations) in Japan, it is important to conduct further research to narrow down the options. In this regard, the following two points are indispensable: (1) specifying the method for estimating productivity losses (whether losses due to vaccinations, morbidity, and death, as well as employment rate considerations and non-absenteeism are included) and (2) presenting results when productivity losses are not included.