Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To provide global policy-makers with decision-making information for developing strategies for immunization of infants with a birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine, this paper presents a retrospective cost analysis, conducted in Indonesia, of delivering this vaccine at birth using the Uniject prefill injection device. METHODS: Incremental costs or cost savings associated with changes in the hepatitis B immunization programme were calculated using sensitivity analysis to vary the estimates of vaccine wastage rates and prices for vaccines and injection devices, for the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine. FINDINGS: The introduction of hepatitis B vaccine prefilled in Uniject (HB-Uniject) single-dose injection devices for use by midwives for delivering the birth dose is cost-saving when the wastage rate for multidose vials is greater than 33% (Uniject is a trademark of BD, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA). CONCLUSION: The introduction of HB-Uniject for birth-dose delivery is economically worthwhile and can increase coverage of the critical birth dose, improve resource utilization, reduce transmission of hepatitis B and promote injection safety.
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