Making Vaccine Decisions Count — PATH's Health Economics Expertise at Work
PATH's Health Economics and Outcomes Research team helps decision-makers understand the value of vaccines and make choices that strengthen immunization programs.
What we do
Health economics examines how health resources can be used to achieve the greatest possible health impact. It generates evidence to help decision-makers understand the costs, value, and broader benefits of health interventions and make informed choices about how to allocate limited resources
Our health economists work with researchers, donors, industry partners, global policy and financing bodies, and countries to inform how resources can be allocated so the most impactful vaccines and other disease prevention interventions are developed and implemented.
Our expertise
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Cost of illness
Studies to measure the economic and societal costs of a disease, including health care expenses, productivity losses, and other impacts, helping decision-makers understand the burden of disease and inform health investment and policy decisions.
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Cost of delivery
Studies to examine the resources and costs required to deliver vaccines/interventions through health systems, helping countries understand the true cost of vaccination and plan for sustainable program implementation.
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Health impact and cost effectiveness
Modeling studies to determine the potential health benefits of interventions in relation to their costs so that decision-makers can compare the value of different options and identify approaches that deliver the greatest health gains for available resources.
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Budget impact and vaccine financing
Analyses to assess the financial implications of introducing and sustaining vaccines/interventions, helping decision-makers understand affordability, funding needs, and how to plan for sustainable vaccine programs.
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Broader benefits of immunization
Research examining the holistic benefits of immunization beyond preventing illness, including their effects on health systems, economies, education, productivity, equity, and wider societal well-being.
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Demand forecasting
Analyses to estimate the future need for vaccines or other health interventions, helping countries and global health partners plan for procurement, supply, financing, and program delivery.
case studies
Respiratory infections and maternal immunization
For over a decade, our health economists and partners have been at the forefront of generating core evidence that has informed decision-making around prevention approaches for high-burden respiratory infections, including diseases preventable via maternal immunization. Such approaches include new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) maternal vaccines and long-acting monoclonal antibodies, Group B Streptococcus (GBS) maternal vaccine development, pneumococcal childhood vaccines, and maternal immunization as a vaccine delivery platform. Our studies inform vaccine research and development, global policy, financing commitments, and country prioritization, optimization, and introduction processes.
Analyses include demand forecasting, cost-of-illness/cost-effectiveness, cost-of-delivery, broader benefits, and budget impact to support specific countries.
Explore PATH's cost calculators for RSV interventions and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (for Gavi-eligible and middle-income countries).
HPV immunization against cervical cancer
PATH is supporting country decision-making through efforts to inform and demonstrate the health and economic benefits of vaccination to protect against human papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer. Over the past several years, we’ve worked with partners in Mongolia, the Philippines, Mozambique, Kenya, and Burkina Faso to understand the cost-effectiveness of HPV vaccine in their specific countries. We also conducted a study in collaboration with ministries of health and other local partners in Ethiopia, Guyana, Rwanda, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Uganda to generate evidence on the ongoing cost of delivering a two-dose HPV vaccination schedule. Another study conducted by PATH in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health in Ethiopia assessed the cost of an HPV vaccine delivery campaign after the country transitioned to a single-dose regimen.
Explore PATH's HPV vaccine cost calculators for Gavi-eligible and middle-income countries.
Typhoid vaccine introductions
PATH health economics analyses helped inform the introductions of the first typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCVs), which have protected more than 100 million children through campaigns in eight Gavi-eligible countries. For example, cost of illness research helped characterize the economic burden of typhoid and the need for prevention in Malawi. Post-introduction analyses like those conducted in Malawi and Burkina Faso generated evidence on the costs of delivering TCV at scale, providing valuable insights for future immunization planning in Malawi, Burkina Faso, and beyond.
Read the journal articles: Malawi cost-of-illness / cost-of-delivery; Burkina Faso cost-of-delivery.
Diarrheal disease prevention
Our health economics team has long supported countries in assessing the investment case for vaccines against diarrheal diseases. In addition to collaborating with countries to project the economic and budget implications of rotavirus introduction (for example, in Mongolia), we also later assessed implications related to switching rotavirus vaccine products following introduction, including in Ghana and Palestine. We also conducted a modeling study to predict the cost-effectiveness and benefit-risk ratio of available rotavirus vaccines for 63 middle-income countries ineligible for Gavi support. PATH health economics also helped inform key value propositions for non-replicating rotavirus and Shigella vaccines in development.
Explore PATH's rotavirus vaccine cost calculators for Gavi-eligible and middle-income countries.
tools for countries
PATH Vaccine Cost Calculators
These Excel-based tools are an easy way to compare the costs of certain vaccination programs with each vaccine product available in the global market. They are available in multiple languages, and we have calculators for middle-income countries and for countries eligible for co-funding from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Diseases covered include: HPV, pneumococcal disease, rotavirus, and RSV.
Meet the team
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Clint Pecenka
Director, Health Economics and Outcomes Research, PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access
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Ranju Baral
Senior Health Economist, PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access
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Frédéric Debellut
Senior Health Economist, PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access
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Rose Slavkovsky
Senior Program Officer, PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access
