In a comprehensive accounting of the costs of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Huber et al. estimate the economic and social costs to have been US$53 billion, of which US$18.8 billion was attributed to non-Ebola deaths.
Africa
Vaccinating all healthcare workers against Ebola could have dramatically reduced cases
Using data on the spread of Ebola from person to person during historical Ebola outbreaks to compare vaccination strategies, researchers found that prophylatically vaccinating all healthcare workers would have decreased the number of disease cases in the 2014 epidemics in Guinea and Nigeria by 60-80%.
Outbreaks of one illness can lead to reduced access to immunization services, increasing risk of additional outbreaks
A 2015 study projected that the crippling of immunization programs resulting from the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone could double the number of people at risk of a measles outbreak, and could cause up to 16,000 measles deaths, surpassing the number of deaths caused by Ebola itself.
In rural Malawi, families face financial burdens due to the costs of treating cholera
In rural Malawi, even though medical care for cholera is free-of-charge in the public sector, more than half of families had to borrow money or sell livestock or other assets to compensate for the lost wages of patients or caregivers and other costs (such as for food and transportation) incurred as a result of an episode of cholera.
Immunization can prevent costly outbreaks and save money for the healthcare system
A large meningococcal meningitis epidemic in Burkina Faso cost the health system an estimated US$7.1 million, representing nearly 2% of the country’s entire annual health budget.
In this study of a 2007 outbreak, 86% of the health system cost covered a reactive vaccination campaign using older polysaccharide vaccines. Routine vaccination with new, conjugate vaccines are expected to prevent or limit future outbreaks and thus reduce these costs.
Meningitis epidemics in Burkina Faso caused major disruptions in healthcare services and increased misdiagnoses
Meningococcal meningitis epidemics in Burkina Faso “… disrupted all health services from national to operational levels,…” according to a 2011 study. Impacts included a shortage of available hospital beds and medicines, a reduction or delay in routine lab analyses for other diseases, longer wait times, and an increase in misdiagnoses by overtaxed health workers.
Immunization can prevent costly meningitis outbreaks and protect households from financial burden and lost income
A 2006-07 meningococcal meningitis epidemic in Burkina Faso cost households an average of US$90 for each case of meningitis that occurred. These costs — representing nearly 2.5 months of the average per capita income for that year — included direct and indirect costs of treatment and lost income to caretakers.
Socioeconomic factors affect vaccination rates, highlighting the need for targeted vaccine programs in different settings
In Tanzania, wealth and mother’s education are significant predictors of vaccination rates in both urban and rural settings. However, low paternal education, lack of antenatal care, and home births were significantly associated with low vaccination rates only in rural settings. This suggests the need for tailored vaccine programs.
Children whose mothers have secondary education or higher are more likely to be fully immunized
Children of mothers with secondary education or higher were significantly more likely to be fully immunized than children of mothers with lower levels of educational attainment.
Immunization coverage can vary greatly between regions within a country
Full immunization coverage, within the Democratic Republic of Congo, varies drastically by region. In the province with the lowest coverage, approximately 5% of children were fully immunized, while in the province with highest coverage, over 70% of children were fully immunized.