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Trends in vaccine investment in middle income countries.

ABSTRACT: Although a proven and effective preventive health measure, childhood immunization programs remain vulnerable to budgetary pressures. Sustainable financing of immunization programs is an important issue that presents a challenge for middle-income countries (MIC) in particular, in part due to technological advances meaning more vaccines are available. This study aimed to analyse trends in immunization program investment across 15 MIC selected based on availability of data, income level classification, and regional representativeness. We assessed investment trends in relation to vaccine coverage, vaccine access, and broader health indicators. Immunization and expenditure data were obtained from the World Health Organisation (WHO) database and the WHO UNICEF Joint Reporting Form and WHO Vaccine Product, Price and Procurement from 2006-2016. We calculated a weighted average index of vaccine commitment (WAIVC) based on vaccine coverage, vaccine scope, and weighted by vaccine innovation measured by approximating vaccine expenditure. Correlation analyses were conducted between immunization expenditure per-capita and each WAIVC, infant mortality and life expectancy. Correlation analyses at a global and individual country level indicate an improvement in immunization access, vaccination commitment measured by WAIVC, and scope of available vaccines in countries with sustained increases in vaccination funding. Increases in national immunization expenditure were correlated with reduced infant mortality and increased life expectancy. Vaccine expenditure comprises a small proportion (less than 2%) of total healthcare spending and has not uniformly increased in accordance with the scope of available vaccines. The present analysis supports the premise that countries with consistent increases in vaccine expenditure have increased vaccine coverage and commitment measured by WAIVC and improved broader health outcomes, indicating the value of sustained investment in vaccination for improved population health. The benefits of vaccine expenditure in this holistic fashion are critical to inform policy decisions on national budget allocation for vaccine funding.

SUBMITTER: Onishchenko K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6816376 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Trends in vaccine investment in middle income countries.

Onishchenko K K Hill S S Wasserman M M Jones C C Moffatt M M Ruff L L Pugh S J SJ

Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics 20190412 10

Although a proven and effective preventive health measure, childhood immunization programs remain vulnerable to budgetary pressures. Sustainable financing of immunization programs is an important issue that presents a challenge for middle-income countries (MIC) in particular, in part due to technological advances meaning more vaccines are available. This study aimed to analyse trends in immunization program investment across 15 MIC selected based on availability of data, income level classificat ...[more]

PMID: 30843757

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Project description:Highlights • This paper studies the relationship between FDI and carbon emissions.• It considers the innovation, regulation, and efficiency levels of the host countries.• A Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag was applied on 21 countries divided by income level, for a period from 2001 to 2017.• FDI decreases emissions in high-income countries, while increasing them in the short run in middle-income countries, which supports the Pollution Haven Hypothesis.• This paper reveals that regulatory measures seem to be less effective in reducing emissions in high-income countries. Besides bringing countries closer, the effects of globalization can help increase the production of goods and services, and foster economic growth. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is one of the processes of globalization. One aspect of globalization that has piqued the interest of economists, is the transfer of polluting industries between countries. A principal factor in this are discrepancies of environmental regulations, and these have also been instrumental in a failure to control pollution worldwide. With this impasse in mind, a Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag was applied to evaluate the impacts of FDI on the carbon dioxide emissions of 21 countries divided by income level, for a period from 2001 to 2017. This methodology allowed the analysis of the resulting dynamics of pollution into the short-run and long-run. The characteristics of efficiency, innovation, and regulation are crucial to better understand the consequences of flows in FDI. Regulation seems to increase pollution in high-income countries, which merits further discussion. FDI decreases emissions in high-income countries, while increasing them in the short-run in middle-income countries, which supports the Pollution Haven Hypothesis. Nonetheless, the capacity of middle-income countries to absorb technology is crucial for them to benefit in the long-run. Trade openness is also highly influenced by environmental regulation in middle-income countries. Since our aim is to understand the transfer of polluting industries, an analysis of emissions from the industrial sector provided a robustness check. It also revealed that policymakers do not seem to be paying sufficient attention to innovation and controlling the environmental degradation that this sector causes.

Project description:BackgroundPrimary healthcare (PHC) systems attain improved health outcomes and fairness and are affordable. However, the proportion of PHC spending to Total Current Health Expenditure in Kenya reduced from 63.4% in 2016/17 to 53.9% in 2020/21 while external funding reduced from 28.3% (Ksh 69.4 billion) to 23.9% (Ksh 68.2 billion) over the same period. This reduction in PHC spending negatively affects PHC performance and the overall health system goals.MethodsWe conducted a cost-benefit analysis and computed costs against the economic benefits of a PHC scale-up. Activity-Based Costing (ABC) on the provider perspective was employed to estimate the incremental costs. The OneHealth Tool was used to estimate the health impact of operationalizing PHC over five years. Finally, we quantified Return on Investment (ROI) by estimating monetized DALYs based on a constant value per statistical life year (VSLY) derived from a VSL estimate.ResultsThe total projected cost of PHC interventions in the Kenya was Ksh 1.65 trillion (USD 15,581.91 billion). Human resource was the main cost driver accounting for 75% of the total cost. PHC investments avert 64,430,316 Disability Adjusted Life-Years (DALYs) and generate cost savings of Ksh. 21.5 trillion (USD 204.4 Billion) over five years. Shifting services from high-level facilities to PHC facilities generates Ksh 198.2 billion (USD 1.9 billion) and yields a benefit-cost ratio of 16:1 in 5 years. Thus, every $1 invested in PHC interventions saves up to $16 in spending on conditions like stunting, NCDs, anaemia, TB, Malaria, and maternal and child health morbidity.ConclusionsEvidence of the economic benefits of continued prioritization of funding for PHC can strengthen the advocacy argument for increased domestic and external financing of PHC in Kenya. A well-resourced and functional PHC system translates to substantial health benefits with positive economic benefits. Therefore, governments and stakeholders should increase investments in PHC to accelerate economic growth.

Project description:BackgroundBirth weight (BW) is a strong predictor of neonatal outcomes. The purpose of this study was to compare BWs between global regions (south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Central America) prospectively and to determine if trends exist in BW over time using the population-based maternal and newborn registry (MNHR) of the Global Network for Women'sand Children's Health Research (Global Network).MethodsThe MNHR is a prospective observational population-based registryof six research sites participating in the Global Network (2013-2018), within five low- and middle-income countries (Kenya, Zambia, India, Pakistan, and Guatemala) in threeglobal regions (sub-Saharan Af rica, south Asia, Central America). The birth weights were obtained for all infants born during the study period. This was done either by abstracting from the infants' health facility records or from direct measurement by the registry staff for infants born at home. After controlling for demographic characteristics, mixed-effect regression models were utilized to examine regional differences in birth weights over time.ResultsThe overall BW meanswere higher for the African sites (Zambia and Kenya), 3186 g (SD 463 g) in 2013 and 3149 g (SD 449 g) in 2018, ascompared to Asian sites (Belagavi and Nagpur, India and Pakistan), 2717 g (SD450 g) in 2013 and 2713 g (SD 452 g) in 2018. The Central American site (Guatemala) had a mean BW intermediate between the African and south Asian sites, 2928 g (SD 452) in 2013, and 2874 g (SD 448) in 2018. The low birth weight (LBW) incidence was highest in the south Asian sites (India and Pakistan) and lowest in the African sites (Kenya and Zambia). The size of regional differences varied somewhat over time with slight decreases in the gap in birth weights between the African and Asian sites and slight increases in the gap between the African and Central American sites.ConclusionsOverall, BWmeans by global region did not change significantly over the 5-year study period. From 2013 to 2018, infants enrolled at the African sites demonstrated the highest BW means overall across the entire study period, particularly as compared to Asian sites. The incidence of LBW was highest in the Asian sites (India and Pakistan) compared to the African and Central American sites. Trial registration The study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov. ClinicalTrial.gov Trial Registration: NCT01073475.

Project description:ObjectivePrior studies have reported inequitable global access to essential medicines for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, especially statins. Here we examine recent trends and disparities in statin utilisation at the income group, regional and country levels.DesignEcological study. Pharmaceutical sales data were used to examine statin utilisation in high-income counties (HICs) and low/middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2015 to 2020. Population estimates were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease. Fixed-effects panel regression analysis was used to examine associations between statin utilisation and country-level factors.SettingGlobal, including 41 HICs and 50 LMICs.ParticipantsPopulation older than 40 years of age.Primary and secondary outcome measuresStatin utilisation was measured using defined daily doses (DDDs) per 1000 population ≥40 years per day (TPD).ResultsGlobally, statin utilisation increased 24.7% from 54.7 DDDs/TPD in 2015 to 68.3 DDDs/TPD in 2020. However, regional and income group disparities persisted during this period. In 2020, statin utilisation was more than six times higher in HICs than LMICs (192.4 vs 28.4 DDDs/TPD, p<0.01). Substantial disparities were also observed between LMICs, ranging from 3.1 DDDs/TPD in West African nations to 225.0 DDDs/TPD in Lebanon in 2020. While statin utilisation increased in most LMICs between 2015 and 2020, several experienced declines in utilisation, most notably Venezuela (-85.1%, from 92.3 to 14.0 DDDs/TPD). In LMICs, every $100 increase in per capita health spending was associated with a 17% increase in statin utilisation, while every 10% increase in out-of-pocket health spending was associated with a 11% decline (both p<0.05).ConclusionsDespite global increases in statin utilisation, there are substantial regional and country-level disparities between HICs and LMICs. To address global CVD disparities, policymakers should promote increased and equitable access to statins in LMICs.

Project description:BackgroundPrimary health care (PHC) is a driving force for advancing towards universal health coverage (UHC). PHC-oriented health systems bring enormous benefits but require substantial financial investments. Here, we aim to present measures for PHC investments and project the associated resource needs.MethodsThis modelling study analysed data from 67 low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Recognising the variation in PHC services among countries, we propose three measures for PHC, with different scope for included interventions and system strengthening. Measure 1 is centred on public health interventions and outpatient care; measure 2 adds general inpatient care; and measure 3 further adds cross-sectoral activities. Cost components included in each measure were based on the Declaration of Astana, informed by work delineating PHC within health accounts, and finalised through an expert and country validation meeting. We extracted the subset of PHC costs for each measure from WHO's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) price tag for the 67 LMICs, and projected the associated health impact. Estimates of financial resource need, health workforce, and outpatient visits are presented as PHC investment guide posts for LMICs.FindingsAn estimated additional US$200-328 billion per year is required for the various measures of PHC from 2020 to 2030. For measure 1, an additional $32 is needed per capita across the countries. Needs are greatest in low-income countries where PHC spending per capita needs to increase from $25 to $65. Overall health workforces would need to increase from 5·6 workers per 1000 population to 6·7 per 1000 population, delivering an average of 5·9 outpatient visits per capita per year. Increasing coverage of PHC interventions would avert an estimated 60·1 million deaths and increase average life expectancy by 3·7 years. By 2030, these incremental PHC costs would be about 3·3% of projected gross domestic product (GDP; median 1·7%, range 0·1-20·2). In a business-as-usual financing scenario, 25 of 67 countries will have funding gaps in 2030. If funding for PHC was increased by 1-2% of GDP across all countries, as few as 16 countries would see a funding gap by 2030.InterpretationThe resources required to strengthen PHC vary across countries, depending on demographic trends, disease burden, and health system capacity. The proposed PHC investment guide posts advance discussions around the budgetary implications of strengthening PHC, including relevant system investment needs and achievable health outcomes. Preliminary findings suggest that low-income and lower-middle-income countries would need to at least double current spending on PHC to strengthen their systems and universally provide essential PHC services. Investing in PHC will bring substantial health benefits and build human capital. At country level, PHC interventions need to be explicitly identified, and plans should be made for how to most appropriately reorient the health system towards PHC as a key lever towards achieving UHC and the health-related SDGs.FundingThe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Trends in vaccine investment in middle income countries.

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Trends in vaccine investment in middle income countries.

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