Abstract

Use of the oral poliovirus vaccine in the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) demands that the children vaccinated be seen four times during the first 10 months of life. In practice, this necessity presents considerable difficulties, which are expressed in particular by the high drop-out rate. Introduction of the new inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) into the vaccination program enables children to be effectively protected against the six diseases of the EPI in only two visits. Vaccination coverage is thus very significantly increased. At the same time, by reducing the number of visits, both the running costs and the investment costs can be decreased. However, the cost of the vaccines is going to rise noticeably because the production of the new IPV will remain a great deal more costly than the production of the live vaccine. An outline is provided of the likely price of the new concentrated and purified IPV. The efficacylcost ratio, measured by the cost of completely vaccinating a child, will, nevertheless, be considerably improved. The new IPV therefore increases the feasibility of the EPI under most satisfactory economic conditions.

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