Financing dengue vaccine introduction in the Americas: challenges and opportunities

Dengue has escalated in the region of the Americas unabated despite major investments in integrated vector control and prevention strategies. An effective and affordable dengue vaccine can play a critical role in reducing the human and economic costs of the disease by preventing millions around the world from getting sick. However, there are considerable challenges on the path towards vaccine introduction. These include lack of sufficient financing tools, absence of capacity within national level decision-making bodies, and demands that new vaccines place on stressed health systems. Various financing models can be used to overcome these challenges including setting up procurement mechanisms, integrating regional and domestic taxes, and setting up low interest multilateral loans. In this paper we review these challenges and opportunities of financing dengue vaccine introduction in the Americas.