A systematic review of health economic evaluations of vaccines in Brazil

Abstract

Background: In Brazil, since 2005, the Ministry of Health requires Health Economic Evaluation (HEE) of vaccines for introduction into the National Immunization Program.Objectives: To describe and analyze the full HEE on vaccines conducted in Brazil from 1980 to 2013.Methods: Systematic review of the literature. We searched multiple databases. Two researchers independently selected the studies and extracted the data. The methodological quality of individual studies was evaluated using CHEERS items.Results: Twenty studies were reviewed. The most evaluated vaccines were pneumococcal (25%) and HPV (15%). The most used types of HEE were cost-effectiveness analysis (45%) and cost-utility analysis (20%). The research question and compared strategies were stated in all 20 studies and the target population was clear in 95%. Nevertheless, many studies did not inform the perspective of analysis or data sources.Conclusions: HEE of vaccines in Brazil has increased since 2008. However, the studies still have methodological deficiencies.