Background: The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was introduced into Thailand's national immunization program in 2017 for 11-12 year old school girls. The objectives of this study were to examine the epidemiological consequences and cost-effectiveness of a routine quadrivalent HPV (4vHPV) vaccination and the routine 4vHPV vaccination plus 5-year catch-up vaccination by comparing with cervical cancer screening only (no vaccination) in Thailand.
Method: A transmission dynamic model was used to assess the cost-effectiveness of the routine 4vHPV vaccination and the routine 4vHPV vaccination plus catch-up vaccination, compared with no vaccination (screening only) in Thai population. The vaccination coverage rate assumptions were 95% in 11-12-year-old girls for the routine vaccination and 70% in 13-24 year-old females for the 5-year catch-up vaccination. Vaccination costs, direct medical costs of HPV-related diseases, and the number of quality of life years (QALYs) gained were calculated for over a 100-year time horizon with discount rate of 3%.
Result: The model indicated that the routine 4vHPV vaccination and the routine plus catch-up 4vHPV vaccination strategies could prevent approximately 434,130 and 472,502 cumulative cases of cervical cancer, 182,234 and 199,068 cumulative deaths from cervical cancer and 12,708,349 and 13,641,398 cumulative cases of HPV 6/11 related genital warts, respectively, when compared with no vaccination over 100 years. The estimated cost per QALY gained (ICER) when compared to no vaccination in Thailand was 8,370 THB/QALY for the routine vaccination and 9,650 THB/QALY for the routine with catch-up vaccination strategy.
Conclusion: Considering the recommended threshold of 160,000 THB/QALY for Thailand, the implementation of the routine 4vHPV vaccination either alone or plus the catch-up vaccination was cost-effective as compared to the cervical cancer screening only.