Economic Resilience of Immunization Systems: Develipment and Validation of the ERIIS Index

Abstract

The health and economic benefits of vaccination programs are tremendous, yet the financial sustainability will be vulnerable to macroeconomic crises, change of donors and government budget constraints. Current research calculates the health impact and cost-effectiveness and does not determine the economic resilience at the system level. In this paper, Economic Resilience Index of Immunization Systems (ERIIS), a composite and multi-dimensional index, is introduced; the index is designed to validate and forecast the ability of a country to maintain immunization outcomes in the case of fiscal shock. ERIIS is a composite score of five pillars: fiscal autonomy, health economic integration, procurement efficiency, funding diversification and data and forecast capacity into 100 points. According to the model, there are measurable indicators, weighting process, and a validation method that are to be employed in an empirical manner. ERIIS can provide a forecasting tool to policymakers because operationalizing economic resilience can be used to determine vulnerability, improve financial preparedness, and reform sustainable immunszation.