Program cost analysis of influenza vaccination of health care workers in Albania

Pallas, Sarah Wood; Ahmeti, Albana; Morgan, Winthrop; Preza, Iria; Nelaj, Erida; Ebama, Malembe S.; Levin, Ann; Lafond, Kathryn E.; Bino, Silvia

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.10.027

Cited by 9 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…Although cost estimates across settings are generally not comparable due to differences in health system costs, we observed similar patterns in a study estimating the cost of immunising health workers in Albania. 48 Vaccine procurement cost was the highest financial cost driver of the Albanian programme. 48 Another costing study applied similar methods in Malawi to prospectively estimate the costs of introducing a maternal influenza immunisation programme, and found microplanning, training and social mobilisation to be the largest financial cost drivers, 49 contrary to our findings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 48 Vaccine procurement cost was the highest financial cost driver of the Albanian programme. 48 Another costing study applied similar methods in Malawi to prospectively estimate the costs of introducing a maternal influenza immunisation programme, and found microplanning, training and social mobilisation to be the largest financial cost drivers, 49 contrary to our findings. This is largely due to the assumption that influenza vaccines were donated and were thus considered an economic cost input, rather than a financial one.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Costs of seasonal influenza vaccination in South Africa

Fraser

Tombe-Mdewa

Kohli-Lynch

et al. 2022

Influenza Resp Viruses

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Background Influenza accounts for a substantial number of deaths and hospitalisations annually in South Africa. To address this disease burden, the South African National Department of Health introduced a trivalent inactivated influenza vaccination programme in 2010. Methods We adapted and populated the WHO Seasonal Influenza Immunization Costing Tool (WHO SIICT) with country‐specific data to estimate the cost of the influenza vaccination programme in South Africa. Data were obtained through key‐informant interviews at different levels of the health system and through a review of existing secondary data sources. Costs were estimated from a public provider perspective and expressed in 2018 prices. We conducted scenario analyses to assess the impact of different levels of programme expansion and the use of quadrivalent vaccines on total programme costs. Results Total financial and economic costs were estimated at approximately USD 2.93 million and USD 7.91 million, respectively, while financial and economic cost per person immunised was estimated at USD 3.29 and USD 8.88, respectively. Expanding the programme by 5% and 10% increased economic cost per person immunised to USD 9.36 and USD 9.52 in the two scenarios, respectively. Finally, replacing trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) with quadrivalent vaccine increased financial and economic costs to USD 4.89 and USD 10.48 per person immunised, respectively. Conclusion We adapted the WHO SIICT and provide estimates of the total costs of the seasonal influenza vaccination programme in South Africa. These estimates provide a basis for planning future programme expansion and may serve as inputs for cost‐effectiveness analyses of seasonal influenza vaccination programmes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Costs of seasonal influenza vaccination in South Africa

Fraser

Tombe-Mdewa

Kohli-Lynch

et al. 2022

Influenza Resp Viruses

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“…Few studies reporting healthcare workers' knowledge and practices toward vaccinations already exist in Albania [13,14]. In our study, although most nurses were favorable to childhood vaccinations, we identified some associations between training gaps and overall attitudes towards vaccinations and/or specific knowledge and/or beliefs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 51%

Hesitancy toward Childhood Vaccinations: Preliminary Results from an Albanian Nursing Staff’s Investigation

Gjini

Carestia

Cenko

et al. 2022

Nursing Research and Practice

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Healthcare professionals are important models for their patients since their individual knowledge and attitudes toward vaccination can influence the patient’s willingness to adhere to vaccination campaigns. After developing a structured questionnaire, it was administered to a sample of nursing staff working in public vaccination centers in Albania (December 2020-January 2021), in order to conduct a preliminary investigation aimed at describing knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and hesitancy toward childhood vaccinations. Among the sample of nurses involved in the administration of vaccines (n.64, 92% females), most of them were confident about vaccines and favorable to childhood vaccinations (90%). However, when specifically investigating beliefs, nearly a quarter of the sample showed to be hesitant; 22% were unsure or partially agreed that vaccines might cause conditions such as autism and multiple sclerosis. A high risk of hesitancy was identified in the youngest staff especially when their work experience was below 10 years or when they graduated less than 10 years before (OR: 5.3, CI: 1.4–19.5; and OR: 4.2 CI: 1.2–14.6). Similarly, a low acceptance rate (54%) was detected for future childhood SARS-CoV-2 vaccines among the nurses, which is a sign of high levels of vaccine hesitancy. With regard to knowledge about childhood vaccine contraindications, none of the nurses identified all the ten correct answers, while only 13% answered at least six questions correctly. These preliminary results highlight the need of investigating more Albanian nursing staff’s knowledge and attitudes toward child vaccinations, therefore investing in tailored training. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the roll-out of mass vaccination, the role of healthcare workers remains crucial and needs more support to manage the changing public opinion as well as quickly evolving vaccine technologies.

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“…That is, these do not include instructions on methods of data collection and sampling and analysis methods, when required. Researchers that have piloted the costing tools have also noted that the manuals need to provide more instructions on perspective (see [19], for example). For example, there is a need for more guidance on how to treat perspective when there is more than one source of financing of vaccines, how to handle slack, etc.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

WHO-led consensus statement on vaccine delivery costing: process, methods, and findings

Levin

Boonstoppel²,

Brenzel

et al. 2022

BMC Med

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Background Differences in definitions and methodological approaches have hindered comparison and synthesis of economic evaluation results across multiple health domains, including immunization. At the request of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Immunization and Vaccines-related Implementation Research Advisory Committee (IVIR-AC), WHO convened an ad hoc Vaccine Delivery Costing Working Group, comprising experts from eight organizations working in immunization costing, to address a lack of standardization and gaps in definitions and methodological guidance. The aim of the Working Group was to develop a consensus statement harmonizing terminology and principles and to formulate recommendations for vaccine delivery costing for decision making. This paper discusses the process, findings of the review, and recommendations in the Consensus Statement. Methods The Working Group conducted several interviews, teleconferences, and one in-person meeting to identify groups working in vaccine delivery costing as well as existing guidance documents and costing tools, focusing on those for low- and middle-income country settings. They then reviewed the costing aims, perspectives, terms, methods, and principles in these documents. Consensus statement principles were drafted to align with the Global Health Cost Consortium costing guide as an agreed normative reference, and consensus definitions were drafted to reflect the predominant view across the documents reviewed. Results The Working Group identified four major workstreams on vaccine delivery costing as well as nine guidance documents and eleven costing tools for immunization costing. They found that some terms and principles were commonly defined while others were specific to individual workstreams. Based on these findings and extensive consultation, recommendations to harmonize differences in terminology and principles were made. Conclusions Use of standardized principles and definitions outlined in the Consensus Statement within the immunization delivery costing community of practice can facilitate interpretation of economic evidence by global, regional, and national decision makers. Improving methodological alignment and clarity in program costing of health services such as immunization is important to support evidence-based policies and optimal resource allocation. On the other hand, this review and Consensus Statement development process revealed the limitations of our ability to harmonize given that study designs will vary depending upon the policy question that is being addressed and the country context.

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Program cost analysis of influenza vaccination of health care workers in Albania

Cited by 9 publications

References 15 publications

Costs of seasonal influenza vaccination in South Africa

Costs of seasonal influenza vaccination in South Africa

Hesitancy toward Childhood Vaccinations: Preliminary Results from an Albanian Nursing Staff’s Investigation

WHO-led consensus statement on vaccine delivery costing: process, methods, and findings

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