Advocate links
- State and Local Government Resources
- Select a State to view resource locations.
- 317 Coalition
- Life-saving, cost-effective immunizations are significantly underfunded by Congress. ECBT has teamed with several partner organizations to create the 317 coalition to achieve increased federal funding for vaccines and vaccine programs. Visit the 317 coalition’s website to take action on this critical issue.
- Regional and National Resources
- Cost of vaccines
- The cost of fully vaccinating each child has risen dramatically with the advent of new, life-saving vaccines.
- Appropriations Chart
- Federal appropriation for the immunizations has not kept pace with the real costs of immunizing children.
- Congress not providing adequate funds to immunize
- The number of children and adolescents who can receive a "full series" of vaccines under the Section 317 program has declined precipitously in the last ten years due to increased vaccine costs and limited program funding.
Economic Value of Vaccines
In addition to saving lives and improving the quality of life, immunization generates significant economic benefits. According to an extensive cost-benefit analysis by the CDC, every dollar spent on immunization saves $6.30 in direct medical costs, with an aggregate savings of $10.5 billion. When including indirect costs to society -- a measurement of losses due to missed work, death and disability as well as direct medical costs -- the CDC notes that every dollar spent on immunization saves $18.40, producing societal aggregate savings of $42 billion.xxxii Various cost-benefit analyses produce similar measurements.xxxiii
The DTaP vaccine is particularly cost effective. Each dollar spent on DTaP produces $8.50 of direct medical cost savings and $24 of societal savings.xxxiv More importantly, diphtheria immunizations alone prevent almost 13,000 deaths per year.
| For every $1 spent 1: | |
|---|---|
| DTaP saves | $27.00 |
| MMR saves | $26.00 |
| H. Influenza type b saves | $5.40 |
| Perinatal Hep B saves | $14.70 |
| Varicella saves | $5.40 |
| Inactivated Polio (IPV) saves | $5.45 |
xxxii Ross Rapoport, “CDC: Immunizations High But Shot In Arm Still Needed,” Cox News Service. 1 August 2003.
xxxiii Zhou, et al, “Economic Evaluation of Routine Childhood Immunization with DTaP, Hib, IPV,
MMR and Hep B Vaccines in the United States,” Pediatric Academic Societies Conference,
Seattle, Washington, May 2003.
xxxiv Ibid.