Costs in Focus: A Pharmacoeconomic Comparison of Vaccine Prices for Immunization

<ns3:p>Background Immunization is one of the most important public health initiative in the country. Although government provides immunization free of cost, private sector is also largely involved in the immunisation. This study conducted a cost minimization analysis of various vaccines available in India for Immunization. Methods The study compared the prices of the most expensive and least expensive brands of vaccines in India. The details of the cost of vaccine was obtained from Current Index of Medical Sciences. The cost difference between the most and least expensive, cost ratio, and percentage of change in costs were calculated with standard formulas. Results A total of 20 vaccines available for immunization in India were analyzed. The most expensive brand of the Hepatitis B vaccine was 12 times more expensive. For the Influenza vaccine, the percentage cost variation (PCV) was 640%. Meningococcal vaccine, and Rabies vaccine demonstrated the least cost variation among various brands. Conclusion There exist considerable cost variations among the various brands of vaccines available for immunization in India</ns3:p>