COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF HEPATITIS-B VACCINE IN THE GAMBIA

Hepatitis B vaccine has been progressively introduced into the Gambian programme of immunization since 1986. Other African countries are con sidering introduction but require evidence of cost-effectiveness to ju stify such a decision. The cost of the Expanded Programme on Immunizat ion in The Gambia, which includes hepatitis B vaccine, was calculated for 1988, Estimates of the effects of this programme on the incidence of liver cancer were made, based on the national cancer registry and a case control study of primary liver cancer and hepatitis B, regarding hepatitis B vaccine costs as incremental. This gave an estimate of th e cost of averting a death from liver cancer in the range US$150-200 ( assuming a vaccine cost of US$1 per dose). This indicates that univers al hepatitis B immunization is comparable, in terms of cost-effectiven ess, to other health interventions in less developed countries,