COST-BENEFIT-ANALYSIS OF A NATIONWIDE NEONATAL INOCULATION PROGRAM AGAINST HEPATITIS-B IN AN AREA OF INTERMEDIATE ENDEMICITY

Study objective-The aim was to estimate the costs and benefits of a nationwide neonatal vaccination campaign against hepatitis B in Israel for the 1990-2034 period. Design-Using morbidity, mortality, utilisation, and cost data from Israeli and international sources, a spreadsheet model was constructed to carry out the cost-benefit analysis. Setting-The entire State of Israel, an area of intermediate endemicity. Participants-The population of Israel from 1990-2034. Main results-A policy of immunising all Israeli neonates would, for a cost of $13.8 million, reduce the number of cases of hepatitis B during the 1990-2035 period in the cohort from 359 000 to 166 000 and save the nation around $21.5 million in health resources alone, $16.6 million in averted work absences, and a further $0.6 million in averted premature mortality costs. Even when the savings to the health services ($0.6 million) arising from the reduction in hepatocellular carcinoma are excluded, the direct benefit to cost ratio is 1.51/1, still in excess of unity. Conclusions-The decision to adopt a nationwide neonatal inoculation policy, starting in january 1992, appears to be not only medically but also economically justifiable.