The Chairman of GAVI board, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has revealed that for every dollar spent on childhood immunisation, nations will save $16 in healthcare costs, lost wages and lost productivity due to illness.
She said if governments take into account the full value people place on living longer, there would be a further increased return on investment to as much as $44.
Okonjo-Iweala who is Nigeria’s former Coordinating Minister for Economy and Minister of Finance in Nigeria, stated this during an interview with a Japanese radio station, NHK, saying with more than 30 vaccine doses administered worldwide every second, immunisation was already recognised as one of the most cost-effective health interventions.
According to her, over 1.5 million children are still dying from vaccine preventable diseases because of lack of political will, particularly from finance ministers, “ and because of lack of understanding within governments that vaccines aren’t just good value for money, but are an investment.