HPV Vaccine Cost Effective for Men who have Sex with Men

Courtesy of Medpage Today

I hope that this information is legitimately considered by Public Health departments and vaccinations of men who have sex with men does happen.  The statistics regarding rates of Anal Carcinoma in men who have sex with men and even more so with men who are HIV + already proved the dire need for vaccinations to occur in this population.  I guess human life isn't as persuasive as cost analysis.  I'm glad someone was able to do that for those who see money over prevention.

Here's the article:

Vaccinating men who have sex with men (MSM) against human papillomavirus (HPV) may be a cost-effective approach to the prevention of anal cancer and genital warts, according to a study using decision-analysis models.


In a best-case scenario, when the vaccine is given to MSM at age 12 years, before any exposure to HPV has occurred, and assuming 50% vaccine coverage and 90% efficacy, the cost effectiveness ratio for each quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained was $15,290, according to Jane J. Kim, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Even if the vaccine was given later -- for instance at age 26 and exposure to HPV was assumed -- the cost-effectiveness ratio remained below the minimum benchmark of $50,000 per QALY gained, at $37,830, Kim reported online in Lancet Infectious Diseases.

In 2009 the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended the use of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine to prevent genital warts for boys and men ages 9 to 26 years, but stopped short of making it a routine vaccination because cost-effectiveness data were lacking.

The vaccine subsequently was shown to be effective in preventing anal lesions in MSM, so the CDC and its advisory committee decided to reconsider the issue.

With the goal of providing guidance on the cost effectiveness of HPV immunization in MSM, Kim performed mathematical modeling in a variety of scenarios, assuming a cost per vaccination of $500, to estimate gains in QALY and expenses avoided for both anal cancer and genital warts.

Variables included age at the time of vaccination and exposure to HPV, incidence of anal cancer in a specific population, and whether the benefit included costs per case of anal cancer or also for genital herpes.

In most scenarios the cost-effectiveness ratios were below $50,000 per QALY