Health economics vaccine failure

THE way Australian health economists have been forced to value vaccines places the country behind other OECD nations and devalues the role of vaccines, especially in the long-term, according to a new report from Glaxo-SmithKline (GSK).

At The Economics of Prevention event hosted this week by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), GSK launched a policy paper entitled ‘The Value of Vaccines – ensuring Australia keeps pace with community values and international practice’.

GSK Vaccines Medical Director, Dr Bishoy Rizkalla, argued that the long-term impact of vaccines justified a lower costeffectiveness threshold, urging a review to account for costs and benefits to the wider economy.