Applying economics to vaccine delivery can save money and lives. With better analytical knowledge and better skills in decision-analysis, decision makers can improve vaccination program sustainability, efficiency, and financial predictability, leading to overall improvement in health system allocative efficiency.
This handbook is a practical and accessible guide to the theory, methods, and research of health economics applied to immunization, and an essential and timely addition to the series of Handbooks in Health Economic Evaluation. By bringing these principles of vaccines and economics together, it is a valuable resource for public health workers, healthcare practitioners, educators, students, researchers, decision makers, and all those working in the immunization field. The handbook guides readers through this critical subject, whether they are already versed in economics or new to the subject.
The handbook includes practical examples relevant to high-, middle-, and low-income settings. It offers background information on vaccines and the vaccine landscape, with relevant reviews of vaccine financing, vaccine adoption, and scaling up vaccine delivery. The handbook's main chapters are on principles, costing, economic evaluation, advanced methods, and financing and resource tracking. Summarizing both theory and applications, it is suitable for self-learning and for training and courses. Links to online exercises and resources will help readers learn and apply key insights.
David Bishai, Professor (adjunct), Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, United States, Logan Brenzel, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William Padula, Assistant Professor; Fellow, Department of Pharmaceutical & Health Economics, School of Pharmacy; Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, University of Southern California (USC)
David Bishai is a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the former President of the International Health Economics Association. From 2016 to 2020 he led partners from 6 countries in producing courses in vaccine economics.
Logan Brenzel is a health economist with more than 35 years of health financing and development experience worldwide. Logan has a PhD in Health Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health; an MS in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health; and a BA in Human Biology and Humanities (Honors) from Stanford University. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Logan manages a portfolio on immunization economics and financing, including COVID-19 vaccines, and supports health systems strengthening partnerships in the Africa region. Since 2003, Logan has provided policy advice to Gavi related to co-financing, eligibility, and transition.
William Padula is a professor of pharmaceutical and health economics at University of Southern California, and fellow in the Leonard Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. His work explores the theoretical foundations of medical cost-effectiveness analysis. He teaches coursework in vaccine economics at universities throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. In 2021, he published the first peer-reviewed U.S. model on the cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination. He holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research from University of Colorado; MS, Evaluative Clinical Science from Dartmouth College; MS, Analytics from University of Chicago; and BS, Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.
