www.gavi.org

WHY INVEST IN VACCINES

Protecting health, improving education and boosting future prospects through immunisation

#vaccineswork

A VIRTUOUS CYCLE

Child vaccinated from birth to 2

years

Likely to be healthier and live

longer

Child has fewer and less serious

illnesses

Lower care costs for health system

and family

More family money available to spend or to save

Child attends school more,

leading to better outcomes

Family economic outlook

strengthens

Birth rate drops; mother’s health

improves

Community more economically

stable and productive

More politically & economically

stable countries

Immunisation is one of the most cost-effective ways of improving living standards,

health and economic prospects

VACCINES HAVE A LONG-TERM POSITIVE IMPACT BEYOND HEALTH OUTCOMES

• Protecting children from infectious diseases raises IQ, improving cognitive function

• Vaccination keeps children healthy, thereby reducing the burden of care on parents; improving their productivity and freeing them from crippling medical costs

• Decrease in child mortality leads to a decline in birth cohort: families have fewer children to achieve ideal family size

• 30–50% of Asia’s economic growth from 1965 to 1990 attributed to reductions in infant and child mortality and fertility rates

Spending on child health has the greatest impact on improving lifetime earnings

Source: David Bloom, “The Value of Vaccination,” January 2011

VACCINES = BETTER EDUCATIONTHE EVIDENCE

In the Philippines

• Large and significant effect of routine vaccination on test scores, raising them on average by about 0.5 standard deviations (SD)

• One SD gain in cognitive test scores raises earnings by around 8%

In Bangladesh

• Children vaccinated against measles in their first year of life are 9% more likely to attend school

• Each year vaccination is delayed decreases the probability of school enrollment by 2.4%

• Each year of schooling increases wages by 9.7%

IMMUNISATION AND ECONOMICS

• Vaccination lowers care costs for health systems and for families, saving up to $6 billion in treatment costs

• Less time spent caring for sick children means as much as $1 billion more available for families to spend or save

• Lower risk of catastrophic costs which can ruin families and leave them in debt

• Children who are protected from disease live longer and later work longer to earn more for their families and communities

• Communities benefit from the shared “herd effect” of vaccines so that even those not vaccinated can be protected

• Fewer disease outbreaks mean less disruption to trade and tourism, benefiting national economies

Source: Stack M, Bishai D, Mirelman A et al. Estimated economic benefits during Decade of Vaccines, Health Affairs 2011; 30(6) 1021-1028

THE BEST START IN LIFE

Better health, more education Healthier, productive workforce

More money to spend or save Better off families and communities

www.gavi.org

THANK YOU

#vaccineswork