Finance ministers can shape future investments in vaccination for all

The value of spending on prevention is immediately clear to health experts. From doctors and nurses to patient advocates and ministries for health, the case for investing in vaccines, smoking cessation and healthy lifestyles is clear.

However, many of the big decisions on health spending are made by finance ministers. That is why the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK) has published a new report to put the spotlight on the critical role of immunisation throughout our lives. It focuses on the health, society and economy return on investment.

‘The key message is clear – Vaccines are not just for children,’ said Esther McNamara, Senior Health Policy Lead at LC-UK. ‘Ensuring that people receive recommended immunisations at all life stages not only keeps people healthy but boosts workforce participation, economic growth, and overall societal well being.’

Main findings:

1. The benefits of vaccination are not always visible or easily measured, so too often they are left out of decision-making.
2. Ministers of Health and Finance need to be cognisant of the full return on investment that immunisation brings – no other public health intervention delivers such wholesale benefits across our lives.
3. The value of keeping us healthy goes beyond GDP, treatment waiting lists, and economic activity. It is the volunteering, caring, spending, and health-promoting behaviours that are so important to each of us and our communities.
4. Successful life course immunisation programmes require a combination of sustained investment, public and professional confidence, and infrastructure.

The organisation spent the year talking to experts at the G7, G20, World Health Assembly, United Nations, and the World Bank and IMF about the implications of comprehensive immunisation schedules throughout life. The goal: to emphasise the role of vaccination in maintaining sustainable health systems and robust economies in the face of demographic shifts. 

‘The value of vaccines to our individual health, public health and the economy is widely appreciated among health stakeholders,’ said McNamara. ‘The challenge is to bring this message to finance stakeholders; to show them that vaccines are such a good investment.’

The economic value is not easy to calculate. The more immediate benefits include reduced spending on managing infections, less strain on health systems and fewer working days lost to illness. There are also real impacts on people’s capacity to spend time on their hobbies, on volunteering, and contributing to their family and community. These intangible benefits are less immediate to those calculating a numerical return on investment.

Another difficulty arises from the length of time it can take for benefits to accrue. For example, while protecting more people against flu this winter will help to curb respiratory infections over the coming months, HPV vaccines prevent cancers that may have otherwise occurred decades after vaccination.

So, how can the case be made to ensure resources are dedicated to immunisation programmes? ‘The point of friction is always money,’ McNamara told Vaccines Today. ‘We have presented the case for vaccination in a concise and digestible way that appeals to busy finance ministries who have limited time and face a wide range of demands.’

As populations age and health workforces come under pressure, concrete ways to keep people healthy are rising up the policy agenda. ‘As we live longer, it just makes economic sense to prevent illness wherever possible,’ she said. ‘It’s now vital that finance ministries show leadership by making the investments required to improve access to vaccination at all ages. This can unlock the opportunities of demographic change.’

ILC will step up its advocacy work around this year’s G20 in Brazil which concludes its terms at the end of November.