Introduction:

The national industry has developed a vaccine candidate against pneumococcus. Given its possible introduction into the health system, the incremental cost that it would entail must be assessed.

Objective:

To estimate the increase in the costs of the National Immunization Program due to the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine candidate.

Methods:

Study of cost description from the social perspective for the year 2021. Eight polyclinics in Havana were studied and 38 relatives of infants were interviewed. Institutional cost, out-of-pocket costs and indirect costs were estimated through microcost. The incremental cost was estimated for a three-dose schedule (2p+1), concomitant with other vaccines.

Results:

The total cost for the National Immunization Program in these polyclinics was between 337,000.00 CUP and 513,000.00 CUP, with a cost per dose between 33.11 CUP and 47.30 CUP. 31.6% of families reported transportation expenses from 5.00 CUP to 40.00 CUP. The introduction of the vaccine would represent an increase between 8.43% and 18.99% of the base cost of the National Immunization Program in polyclinics. The cost per dose would be between 34.17 CUP and 47.82 CUP, for an increase of between 0.28 CUP and 1.33 CUP.

Conclusions:

Most of the cost of the National Immunization Program is borne by the State. The application of the Cuban pneumococcal vaccine would only slightly increase the cost per dose.