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Marketing Program Could Boost Elderly Flu
Vaccinations, Save Lives
10-year federal flu vaccination program could save
more than 6,500 lives
By Krista Hopson
March 24, 2006 - To increase influenza vaccinations
rates among the elderly those ages 65 and over who are at high risk
for influenza-related mortality the federal government could consider
borrowing a page from the pharmaceutical companies' prescription drug
advertising campaigns.
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FLU 2005-06 |
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By using direct-to-consumer advertising, an
effective tactic used by pharmaceutical companies to encourage consumers
to seek information about new treatments, researchers at the University
of Michigan Health System say the federal government could promote flu
vaccination to the elderly in a cost-effective manner that would
ultimately save lives.
Study results show that if the Department of Health
and Human Services were to lead a 10-year flu vaccination program aimed
at elderly people with the same intensity as pharmaceutical companies'
direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns, it could save more than 6,500
lives at a cost of $37,600 per life-year saved for the duration of the
program.
The study, the first to analyze the
cost-effectiveness of an intense federal advertising campaign aimed at
vaccination, appears in the March 2006 issue of Preventive Medicine.
Annual vaccination is the single greatest defense
against the flu, reducing illness, hospitalizations and even death.
Despite being an efficient and cost-effective way
to prevent mortality from flu among the elderly, it's still an
underutilized tool with vaccination rates falling more than 25
percentage points below the national goal of 90 percent, says study
author Matthew Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P, an assistant professor of
pediatrics and internal medicine in the division of General Pediatrics
and General Internal Medicine at the U-M Health System, and of public
policy at U-M's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
"Direct-to-consumer advertising for flu vaccine may
be an effective method to inform elderly persons unaware or perhaps not
yet convinced of potential immunization benefits and motivate them to
seek vaccination," says Davis.
"Flu vaccination itself for elderly people is
cost-saving to the health care system. By increasing demand through a
promotional campaign, we could increase vaccination rates and still have
a cost-effective program. Our analysis indicates that is true even if
the flu varies in intensity and the vaccine varies in effectiveness from
year to year."
While many medical experts are leery of
pharmaceutical companies' approach to consumer advertising, few have
considered its potential impact for increasing vaccination rates among a
targeted group through a program led by the federal government.
So Davis, along with second-year U-M Medical School
student Mitesh Patel, analyzed the cost-effectiveness of a hypothetical
10-year federally sponsored flu vaccination promotional program aimed at
the elderly. The program was designed to mimic the intensity of a
direct-to-consumer advertising campaign, making it stronger and more
expensive than a typical government public health promotion program.
They found that such a program would save 6,516
lives, or 69,138 life-years, over the course of 10 years, at a cost of
approximately $37,600 per life-year saved.
With a total 10-year cost of $2.23 billion, which
includes vaccines and advertising, the program would increase the
vaccination rate by 20 percentage points within its first five years,
and achieve a 25 percentage point increase at the end of 10 years,
attaining the Healthy People 2010 vaccination target of 90 percent.
If the program were less successful in raising
vaccination rates, Davis say it would be less cost-effective as a
result. For example, if the 10-year program only raised national
vaccination rates to 80 percent, the cost-effectiveness would be about
$60,000 per life-year saved, he notes.
In all, direct-to-consumer advertising for flu
vaccination has the potential to inform and motivate elderly people to
seek vaccination, especially since many physicians may fail to recommend
influenza vaccinations to the elderly and other high-risk patients, says
Davis.
"Some experts are very critical of
direct-to-consumer advertising because they believe it causes
unnecessary use of expensive medications," says Davis. "However, we can
avoid this problem when using direct-to-consumer approaches to promote
influenza vaccination among elders. There is no such thing as an
unnecessary flu vaccination for a person 65 years or older."
The study was funded by the U-M Health System.
Reference: Preventive Medicine, March 2006, Vol.
42.
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