Vaccination is created to prevent the spread of various diseases. Child vaccination is an example of positive consumption externalities, as it not only protects the vaccinated child but also reduces the chances of the spread of infections in society (“Externality,” n.d.). Vaccination has become one of the most influential scientific advances in maintaining health. Only the availability of clean water had a comparative effect on reducing mortality and morbidity. Although the critical influence of vaccines is to improve public health, they also have economic implications.
Reducing morbidity and mortality has significant implications for the economy. In particular, they reduced the costs of treating diseases, which can be prevented (Nandi & Sheet, 2020). A healthier population, in turn, contributes more effort to the economy and its strengthening (Rodrigues & Plotkin, 2020). In particular, healthy children show the best performance at school and in future careers. Moreover, when children suffer from the disease, it hinders the productivity of adults who take care of children, interfering with the well-being of the whole family and the economy in general. Therefore, childhood vaccination is necessary at the individual and national levels.
The development of vaccines also has significant implications for the pharmaceutical market. Disease prevention eliminates the need to create drugs to treat them. While it could suggest potential losses for pharmaceutical companies, they could also devote their efforts to developing new medicines and vaccines. Thus, childhood vaccination is a positive externality, which is strengthening the economy thanks to a healthy population and changes in the pharmaceutical market in drug development directions.
References
Nandi, A., & Shet, A. (2020). Why vaccines matter: understanding the broader health, economic, and child development benefits of routine vaccination. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 16(8), 1900-1904. Web.
Rodrigues, C., & Plotkin, S. A. (2020). Impact of vaccines; health, economic and social perspectives. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, 1526. Web.