The full value of children’s vaccines

 By SETH BERKLEY

IF you want to know the value of vaccines, just spend some time in a clinic in Africa. 

The faces of the mothers and fathers say it all: vaccines prevent illness and save lives.

But what these parents probably do not realise is that the story does not end there. 

As they leave the clinic and head home, they have already taken steps to improve not just their child’s health, but also his or her educational prospects and long-term future. 

What is more, they will have also helped to improve their own lives and enhance the economic prospects of their wider community.

The reasons are simple. 

We know that children who are healthier do not require medical treatment or care, both of which cost time and money. So, by avoiding illness, infants have a greater chance of growing into healthier children who are able to attend school and become more productive members of society.

Instead of caring for a sick child, parents can work, thereby increasing their ability to earn. So, rather than spending money on medical bills, they are boosting their income and spending capacity, both of which help the economy to grow.

All of this intuitively makes sense, and there is a growing body of scientific evidence to back it up. 

It has been shown, for example, that vaccinated children not only do better at school, but also that, through the prevention of damage that can be caused by infectious diseases and resulting nutritional imbalances, they appear to benefit in terms of cognitive development.

Similarly, vaccination has been shown to lead to wage gains across populations, while improvements in child survival rates are associated with lower fertility rates. 

And, in terms of the wider gains, one study found that a five-year improvement in life expectancy can translate into a 0.5% increase in annual per capi­ta income growth.

What all of this means is that by measuring the effectiveness of vaccines merely in terms of “lives saved”, we could be se­riously underestimating the full extent of the benefits that they offer. 

As things stand, in terms of the cost effectiveness of health interventions, vaccines are already considered one of public policy’s “best buys”.

Since it was formed in 2000, GAVI has already helped to immunise more than 370 million children against a range of deadly diseases. 

As a result, we have prevented 5.5 million deaths, and we aim to immunise a further 245 million children and save five million more lives by 2015.

l Seth Berkley is the chief executive officer the GAVI Alliance, a public-private global health partnership committed to saving children’s lives and protecting people’s health by increasing access to immunisation in poor countries.