Nearly 30 staff involved in immunisation programs in Sub-Saharan Africa attended a special workshop on the economics of vaccines at the University of Witwatersrand last month.

The workshop, delivered by health economists from PRICELESS SA and John Hopkins University, focused on improving the sustainability of vaccine delivery in low and middle-income countries.

Dr Anthony Kinghorn, Senior Technical Advisor; and Dr Ijeoma Edoka, Research Director, both from PRICELESS SA joined forces with Dr Bill Padula, Assistant Professor from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, to present theoretical concepts in cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-effectiveness modelling in global infectious disease and vaccine outcomes.

Over three days the workshop facilitators presented on: methods and tools for economic evaluation; basic concepts of economic evaluation; measuring and valuing costs by perspective; measuring and valuing health benefits; reporting results & the role of uncertainty; and an introduction to decision analytical models.

Attendees were made up of representatives from Angola, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.