Introduction: During the last years, a significant number economic
evaluations of HPV vaccination has been published. Given that
cost-effectiveness constitutes an essential part of decision-making with
regards to the reimbursement of a health technology, the purpose of this
study is to provide a supportive tool to decision-makers regarding the
economic efficiency of the introduction of HPV vaccination to national
immunization programs.
Areas covered: The PubMed database was searched in order to identify
cost-effectiveness studies for HPV vaccination. A total of 42 articles
were finally retrieved. All retrieved cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs)
were converted in the same currency unit (I)andtheninflatedtothesameyear(2015)inordertofacilitatecross−countrycomparisons.Results:Overall,vaccinationagainstHPV6,11,16,18typesappearstohaveaICERwithmeanvalueofI25132/QALY, whereas the mean ICER of
vaccination against oncogenic HPV 16,18 types is estimated at
I$38,253/QALY.
Expert commentary: HPV vaccination would be a cost-effective
intervention in the setting of high-income countries and could reduce
the incidence of HPV-related diseases