Economics of reaching zero-dose children

Reaching zero-dose children, those that have missed out on all routine vaccines, is a central pillar of both WHO’s Immunization Agenda 2030 and Gavi’s 5.0 strategy, however, economic evidence to support decision makers in this is lacking. During the IHEA Immunization Economics pre-congress in July 2023, our community of practice identified this knowledge gap as a key research priority: generating evidence on cost, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency of reaching zero dose children in different contexts, including targeted local interventions, campaigns, but also strengthening the PHC system. In April 2024, key stakeholders working on or about to launch work on estimating the cost of reaching zero-dose came together to discuss methods, approaches, and challenges. In August, the group published a set of research principles for studies aiming to estimate the cost of zero-dose children.

This page aims to summarize all planned, ongoing, and completed work focused on developing economics evidence around what it takes to reach zero-dose children.