Evaluation report
Cost-effectiveness evaluation of a radio campaign to improve full vaccination coverage among children under-five in Ethiopia.
Bernard Appiah, Evans Otieku, Lakew Abebe Gebretsadik, Yisalemush Asefa, Martin Kampamba et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of a three-month radio campaign called '10 + 10 + 30' designed to increase childhood vaccination rates in Ethiopia. The intervention combined radio drama about vaccination, community health worker discussions, and listener phone-ins. Using modeling based on a quasi-experimental trial, the researchers projected that the campaign could increase full vaccination coverage by 134% at a cost of about US$0.04 per child. If scaled nationally, the intervention could save approximately 288,000 lives and cost US$78 per disability-adjusted life year averted.
Key points
- The 10 + 10 + 30 intervention combined 10-minute radio drama, 10-minute community health worker discussion, and 30-minute listener phone-in format
- Projected 134% increase in full vaccination coverage, reaching an additional 8 million under-five children if scaled
- Campaign cost approximately US$0.04 per child reached
- At scale, could reduce under-five mortality by 32% (288,000 lives saved)
- Cost-effectiveness of US$78 per disability-adjusted life year averted
Limitations
This is a modeling study based on quasi-experimental trial data from two districts, so results are projections rather than actual outcomes from full-scale implementation. The study cannot determine actual implementation costs, coverage, or mortality reductions if the campaign were rolled out nationally.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Achieving timely childhood vaccination is a challenge in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A three-month intervention called 10 + 10 + 30 involved 10-minute serial radio drama on vaccination, 10-minute community health worker discussion, and a 30-minute phone-in by listeners was implemented in Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. The goal was to increase childhood vaccination and improve child health outcomes. There is limited evidence of the cost-effectiveness of a radio-only intervention on childhood vaccination in LMICs. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of 10 + 10 + 30 radio campaign. METHODS: A scenario modeling design using evidence from a quasi-experimental trial in two districts of Jimma Zone in Ethiopia. The priority populations were all under-five children living in Ethiopia in 2021. The main outcome measures were the proportion of incremental full childhood vaccination coverage, total number of lives saved (mortality avoided), and cost per disability-adjusted life years averted. RESULTS: From an estimated unit campaign cost of about US$0.04 per child, we projected a 134% increase in full vaccination coverage, equivalent to an additional 8 million fully vaccinated under-five children. If implemented at scale, the intervention had the potential to reduce under-five mortality by about 32%, corresponding to 288,000 lives saved and an estimated cost per averted disability-adjusted life year (DALY) of US$78. CONCLUSION: The study provides evidence to show that a radio vaccination campaign at scale in Ethiopia may have the potential to increase full childhood vaccination coverage, reduce under-five mortality and be cost-effective in terms of averted DALYs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was retrospectively registered with ClinicalTrial.gov as NCT04913714 on the 4th of June 2021.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Three-month radio campaign combining 10-minute serial radio drama on vaccination, 10-minute community health worker discussion, and 30-minute phone-in discussion by listeners
- Population
- All under-five children in Ethiopia (modeled for national scale based on trial in Jimma Zone)
Key finding
Projected 134% increase in full vaccination coverage
Appiah et al. · PubMed (US National Library of Medicine) · 16 Jun 2026