A study led by Sachiko Ozawa of Johns Hopkins University and recently published in the February 2016 edition of the Health Affairs Journal, share findings that show the economic benefits of increased investment in global vaccination programs.  The team compared the program costs for providing 10 antigens in  ninety-four low and middle-income countries during the period of 2011–2020 versus the costs for estimated treatments of unimmunized individuals during the same period.  Their findings show that across the board that prevention of the diseases results in an average return on investment (ROI) of 16 times the original costs. While the ROI varies between antigens each shows a net benefit from the initial amount spent. Of the examples studied measles vaccines showed the greatest ROI with $58 dollars saved in future costs for every $1 dollar spent.  Overall the study confirms that investment in vaccination programs makes sound economic sense and encourages governments and donors step up and meet the requisite initial investments to in order to realize the substantial positive return.

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