Title: Future strategic plan for national immunisation program in Iran: cost effectiveness of acellular pertussis versus whole-cell

Authors: Roxana Mansour-Ghanaei; Maziar Moradi-Lakeh; Abdollah Karimi; Mohsen Yaghoubi; Afshin Amiraslany; Amarjit Gill; Seyed Mohsen Zahraei

Addresses: Pediatric Infections Research Center, Research Institute for Children's Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ' Preventive Medicine and Public Health Research Center, Department of Community Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ' Pediatric Infections Research Center, Research Institute for Children's Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ' Preventive Medicine and Public Health Research Center, Department of Community Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ' Edwards School of Business, Department of Finance and Management Science, The University of Saskatchewan, 25 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, S7N-5A7, Canada ' Edwards School of Business, Department of Finance and Management Science, The University of Saskatchewan, 25 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, S7N-5A7, Canada ' Center for Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: We investigated the new strategic plan of immunisation against whooping cough by conducting cost effectiveness analysis of acellular whooping cough vaccination compared with whole-cell vaccination, a current strategy used in the Iranian national immunisation program. We used a decision tree model together with sensitivity analysis to find the results. The findings of this study suggest that the implementation of acellular immunisation program for children and acellular immunisation program for high-risk groups are the most cost-effective strategies in Iran by US$12,691 incremental cost per disability adjusted life years averted. The results also suggest that acellular vaccine for children is cost-effective scenario in Iran when resulting from whole-cell vaccine associated side-effects is accounted. This study contributes to the literature on the factors that decrease healthcare sector costs. The study also provides critical policy recommendations for the decision makers in the healthcare sector. The findings may be useful for decision makers in the healthcare sectors and the government of Iran.

Keywords: strategic plan; whooping cough; acellular; whole-cell; cost effectiveness; children; Iran.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFIP.2018.095865

International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy, 2018 Vol.13 No.1/2, pp.136 - 147

Published online: 25 Oct 2018 *

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