Economic Evaluation of Rotavirus Vaccination: an Important Step of the Introduction to the National Immunization Program in Thailand

Introduction: World Health Organization recommends rotavirus vaccine for all national immunization programs (NIPs). To provide country-specific evidence, we conducted economic evaluation of a monovalent rotavirus vaccination using specific data of the pilot phase in Thailand.

Method: A Markov model was adopted to compare the 2020 birth cohort once receiving rotavirus vaccination versus no vaccination from healthcare and societal perspective over five years. Data on disease burden, vaccine effectiveness, costs, and utilities were taken from a cohort study in two provinces of Thailand.  Sensitivity analyses were performed to test the robustness of the results.

Results: Rotavirus vaccination would reduce rotavirus diarrhea and costs of illness by 48% and 71%, respectively, over the first five years of life. At USD 13 per dose, vaccine was cost-effective with the ICERs of USD 4,114 and USD 1,571per QALY gained from healthcare and societal perspective, respectively. Results were sensitive to incidence and vaccine cost.  The budget for vaccine purchasing was estimated at USD13 million per year.

Conclusion: Incorporating rotavirus vaccination into the NIP substantially reduced health and cost outcomes and was cost-effective for both perspectives. However, the government needs to negotiate vaccine price prior to program implementation to achieve favorable budget impact.