ABSTRACT
The vision of a world free of preventable infectious diseases has to be considered in the context of the expense of vaccination. In January 2000, a further $300 m was believed to be required to achieve certified global eradication of polio by 2005,93 and the sum had risen to $450 m by September 2000.94 Although individual vaccines are cheap, politicians and public health authorities who decide vaccination policy must continually assess costs and benefits. Many have argued that it is inappropriate to place a value upon human life and health, but hard choices must be made in the pragmatic context of limited resources.95 The costs of vaccines must be demonstrably justified, and this is most likely to occur if they are seen to result in herd immunity.
