Cost-Effectiveness of Cervical Cancer Prevention in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Abstract

We studied the cost-effectiveness of cervical cancer prevention strategies in the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) region. The cost-effectiveness of human papillomavirus (HPV)16/18 vaccination of 12 year-old girls was calculated for 28 countries, under the assumption that vaccination prevents 70% of all cervical cancer cases and that cervical cancer and all-cause mortality rates are stable without vaccination. At three-dose vaccination costs of I$ 100 per vaccinated girl (currency 2005 international dollars), HPV16/18 vaccination was very cost-effective in 25 out of 28 countries using the country's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita as cost-effectiveness threshold (criterion by World Health Organization). A three-dose vaccination cost of I$ 100 is within the current range of vaccine costs in European immunization programs, and therefore our results indicate that HPV vaccination may be good value for money. To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of cervical cancer screening combined with vaccination, we calibrated a published simulation model to HPV genotype data collected in Slovenia, Poland, and Georgia. The screening interval was varied at 3, 6, and 10 years starting at age 25 or 30 and ending at age 60. In Slovenia and Poland, combined vaccination and 10-yearly HPV (DNA) screening (vaccination coverage 70%, screening coverage per round 70%) was very cost-effective when the cost of three-dose vaccination was I$ 100 per vaccinated girl. More intensive screening was very cost-effective when the screening coverage per round was 30% or 50%. In Georgia, 10-yearly Pap screening was very cost-effective in unvaccinated women. Vaccination combined with 10-yearly HPV screening was likely to be cost-effective if the three-dose vaccination cost was I$ 50 per vaccinated girl. To conclude, cervical cancer prevention strategies utilizing both HPV16/18 vaccination and HPV screening are very cost-effective in countries with sufficient resources. In low-resource settings, low vaccine pricing is essential for strategies of combined vaccination and screening to be cost-effective.This article forms part of a regional report entitled “Comprehensive Control of HPV Infections and Related Diseases in the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Region” Vaccine Volume 31, Supplement 7, 2013. Updates of the progress in the field are presented in a separate monograph entitled “Comprehensive Control of HPV Infections and Related Diseases” Vaccine Volume 30, Supplement 5, 2012.