Sanofi Pasteur MSD Welcomes the Publication of a Special Issue on the Economic Value of Vaccination

A relevant and comprehensive approach on the benefits of vaccines
on healthcare systems sustainability and economic growth

Lyon, France – September, 17  2015/PRNewswire – Sanofi Pasteur MSD is proud to announce the publication of a supplement dedicated to the economic value of vaccination in the Journal of Market Access and Health Policy. The series of 7 articles has been developed by Sanofi Pasteur MSD and a group of 11 public health and economics experts, from 8 EU countries.

“Prevention is one of the most appropriate responses to Europe’s health and growth challenges", said Andrea Rappagliosi, Vice President Market Access, Health Policy and Medical Affairs of Sanofi Pasteur MSD. "Vaccination helps tackle resurging and emerging infectious diseases and improve the health of an ageing population. This publication provides further evidence of Sanofi Pasteur MSD’s leading position in Europe as a health partner of choice”, he concluded.

Vaccination represents today only 0.3% of healthcare expenditure in an EU country like France1. Although a minor fraction of the healthcare budget is allocated to vaccination programs in Europe, these have a central role in prevention policies and are recognized as one of the most cost-effective public health interventions2,3. Beyond acknowledged impact on public health, this series of articles depicts impact of vaccination on economic growth, sustainability and efficiency of healthcare systems. It emphasizes several invisible gains from vaccination that are traditionally ignored in economic analyses.

“This series of articles constitutes a comprehensive source of information on vaccination’ benefits and depicts the problem from different angles and perspectives. They help to realize the broad spectrum of benefits that add to health, economic and societal gains of immunization” said Prof. Mondher Toumi and Prof. Walter Ricciardi. “Bringing this message to the patients and authorities and increasing awareness of true value of vaccination is of great importance nowadays. Promoting and strengthening the role of vaccines is in line with recently published document by Council of the European Union", they added.

Exclusively dedicated to vaccines in Europe, Sanofi Pasteur MSD is a committed public health partner, fully focused on Europe’s future, people and healthcare systems. This approach aims to demonstrate that vaccines have relevance for wider economic planning and require adequate value recognition to ensure quick population access and wide acceptability.

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Key facts from the economic value of vaccination special issue

  • Vaccination plays a major role in the sustainability of healthcare systems, particularly in the context of increasing pressure on healthcare budgets. Vaccines generate savings by avoiding hospitalizations, medical interventions, medications and nosocomial infections. The most comprehensive study performed in the US on childhood vaccination concluded that for every dollar invested in childhood vaccination, 3 and 10 dollars are saved in direct and societal costs respectively4. In Europe, each year, 87,000 children are hospitalized in Europe because of rotavirus gastroenteritis5 and a reduction of 65-83% of rotavirus hospitalisations has been observed following introduction of routine vaccination6,7.
  • Beyond its impact on healthcare resources, vaccination also contributes to productivity and economic growth. On a national scale, the economic burden of infectious diseases may be considerable. For example, in Germany, annual costs of varicella for the society were estimated to be 187.5 million euros, 82% of which were indirect costs8.
  • Elderly vaccination programs contribute to a more active and healthier ageing population in a context of unprecedented demographic challenge in Europe. The number of people over 65 will double in the next 50 years, and those over 80 will triple9, not only making state pensions harder to afford but also raising the question of who will take care of this ageing population. Thus, preventing diseases such as influenza, pneumococcal diseases, and shingles, to foster active and healthy ageing is important, not only for contributing to healthcare systems sustainability, but also because elderly individuals often constitute an active group of volunteers in a society and are central to many community-based projects10.

About the special issue
https://www.jmahp.net/index.php/jmahp

This publication has been developed in collaboration of with a group of 11 European experts:  Pierre Levy, France, Université Paris Dauphine; Jürgen Wasem, Germany; Universität Duisburg-Essen;  York Zoellner, Germany, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences;  Thomas Szucs, Switzerland University of Basel;  Paolo Bonanni, Italy, University of Florence; Carlo Signorelli, Italy, University of Parma; Juan Picazo, Spain, University of Madrid; Amós García Rojas, Spain, Spanish Association for Vaccinology; Anna Glenngård, Sweden, University of Lunds; Richard Smith, UK, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Maarten Postma, Netherlands, University of Groningen.

About Sanofi Pasteur MSD www.spmsd.com

Sanofi Pasteur MSD is a European joint venture formed between Sanofi Pasteur (the vaccine division of Sanofi) and Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada). Combining innovation and expertise, Sanofi Pasteur MSD is the only European pharmaceutical company dedicated exclusively to the development of vaccines. Sanofi Pasteur MSD makes use of the combined expertise resulting from Sanofi Pasteur and Merck’s research to focus on the development of new vaccines in Europe in order to produce the most effective, most acceptable and better tolerated vaccines.

Contact
Sanofi Pasteur MSD
Sylvia Martin-Jarrand
Tel : +33 4 37 28 40 55
[email protected]

Sanofi Pasteur MSD
Loïc Frerejouand
[email protected]

References

  1. Direction de la recherche des études de l’évaluation et des statistiques. National Health Accounts 2013 [Comptes Nationaux de la Santé 2013]. Paris, France: 2014
  2. Ehreth J. The global value of vaccination. Vaccine. 2003;21(7-8):596-600.
  3. OECD. Health at a Glance 2011: OECD Indicators:
    https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/49105858.pdf.
  4. Zhou F, Shefer A, Wenger J, Messonnier M, Wang LY, Lopez A, et al. Economic evaluation of the routine childhood immunization program in the United States, 2009. Pediatrics. 2014;133(4):577-85
  5. Soriano-Gabarro M, Mrukowicz J, Vesikari T, Verstraeten T.Burden of rotavirus disease in European Union countries. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2006; 25(1 Suppl): S7-11.
  6.   Braeckman T, Van Herck K, Raes M, Vergison A, Sabbe M, Van Damme P. Rotavirus vaccines in Belgium: Policy and impact. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2011; 30(1 Suppl): S21-4.
  7.   Patel MM, Steele D, Gentsch JR,Wecker J, Glass RI, Parashar UD. Real-world impact of rotavirus vaccination. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2011; 30(1 Suppl): S1-5.
  8.   Banz K, Wagenpfeil S, Neiss A, Hammerschmidt T, Wutzler P.The burden of varicella in Germany. Potential risks and economic impact. Eur J Health Econ 2004; 5(1):46_53.
  9.   European Commission - The 2012 Ageing Report. Economic and budgetary projections for the 27 EU Member States (2010-2060)
  10.   Observatory for Sociopolitical Developments in Europe. Senior Citizens and Volunteering in the European Union. November 2011.
    https://www.sociopolitical-observatory.eu/uploads/tx_aebgppublications/Backgroundpaper_Senior_Citizens_Volunteering_11_2011_BEO.pdf