The Value(s) of Vaccination: Building the Scientific Evidence According to a Value-Based Healthcare Approach.

Objectives: To provide a new value-based immunization approach collating the available scientific evidence on the topic.
Methods: Four value pillars (personal, allocative, technical, and societal) applied to vaccination field were investigated. A systematic literature review was performed querying three database from December 24th, 2010 to May 27th, 2020. It included studies on vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) that mentioned the term value in any part and which were conducted in advanced economies. An in-depth analysis was performed on studies addressing value as key element.
Results: Overall, 107 studies were considered. Approximately half of the studies addressed value as a key element but in most of cases (83.3%) only a single pillar was assessed. Furthermore, the majority of papers addressed the technical value by looking only at classical methods for economic assessment of vaccinations whereas very few dealt with societal and allocative pillars.
Conclusions: Estimating the vaccinations value is very complex, even though their usefulness is certain. The assessment of the whole value of vaccines and vaccinations is still limited to some domains and should encompass the wider impact on economic growth and societies.
Competing Interests: GEC, EC, AT, IG, EB, MM, and CdW received a fee by VIHTALI (Value in Health Technology and Academy for Leadership & Innovation, Spin-Off of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy) for the scientific activities of the project entitled “The value (s) of vaccination: building the scientific evidence according to a Value-Based Healthcare approach.” WR was not paid for his time by him. The project was funded by MSD. The funders had no role in the design of the study, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, or the writing of the manuscript.
(Copyright © 2022 Calabro', Carini, Tognetto, Giacchetta, Bonanno, Mariani, Ricciardi and de Waure.)