Leveraging the power of vaccines to prevent antimicrobial resistance 

Vaccines are one of the most effective tools we have for protecting our health. They have a long track record of safety and efficacy and savings across the health system, and are responsible for significant improvements in public health, including the eradication of smallpox and the near elimination of diseases like polio and measles.

Now a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) puts a spotlight on yet another downstream benefit of vaccines – their ability to lower antibiotic use, decrease resources spent treating resistant infections and reduce the global burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Data show:

• Vaccines targeting 23 pathogens could reduce the number of antibiotics needed by 22% every year. People who are vaccinated tend to stay healthier and out of the hospital, preventing secondary infections that may need antimicrobial medicines.
• Existing vaccines for pneumococcal pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae type B and typhoid could avert up to 106,000 deaths associated with AMR each year. An additional 543,000 AMR-linked deaths could be prevented annually if vaccines in development for tuberculosis and Klebsiella pneumoniae are ultimately successful in reaching approval and rolled out globally to patients.

Increasing vaccine uptake can also drive substantial savings for the health care system – globally and here in the U.S.

• According to the same WHO report, the global hospital costs of treating resistant pathogens are estimated at $730 billion each year. Vaccines, if rolled out for all 23 evaluated pathogens in the WHO research, could save one-third of the hospital costs associated with AMR.
• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that over the last 30 years in the United States, childhood vaccines have saved nearly $2.2 trillion in health care related costs.
• Vaccines can reduce the risk and severity of vaccine-preventable diseases like flu, pneumococcal disease, shingles and whooping cough, which cost $27 billion in direct and indirect costs each year among adults over the age of 50.

Absent intervention, AMR could result in 39 million deaths between now and 2050, according to The Lancet. But thanks to the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry’s leading efforts to research and develop innovative vaccine technology, these powerful tools are protecting Americans and people around the globe from disease and helping mitigate the threat of long-term public health challenges like AMR.

Learn more about AMR here.