Objective: An economic evaluation of an anti-S pneumoniae vaccine for oncological patients in Colombia.
Methods: As there is no evidence of vaccine effectiveness for this kind of patient, the cost of a vaccination programme for oncological patients was calculated during its first six years and the opportunity cost was estimated for early cancer detection alternatives.
Results: An anti-S. pneumoniae vaccination programme for oncological patients would cost around $31,000,000,000 (Colombian pesos in 2006, i.e. nearly US$12,400,000) during its first years. Alternative programs could be developed with this amount, such as 170,000 colonoscopies or early HPV detection, 500,000 mammographies, or more than 3,800,000 cytologies.
Conclusions: Given the scarcity of resources, it would be better (from an economic point of view) to devote this amount to programmes whose effectiveness has been proven, such as early cancer detection or vaccinating healthy children.