Wenbo Zhang

Abstract

Vaccination has been deemed the most cost-effective way to fight against preventable diseases and improve global health. In recent years, expensive combination vaccines which provide multiple antigens in a single shot have been developed to replace traditional monovalent vaccines and have become the preferred choice of healthcare systems in industrialized countries. High prices have not only barricaded low-income countries from accessing combination vaccines but also lure vaccine manufacturers to shift their production capacity from making traditional vaccines to combination vaccines. Such a shift could eventually lead to shortages on the vaccine supply for low-income countries. This work extends the ABP model proposed by Proaño which optimally prices vaccines under tiered pricing strategy to make them affordable and available across different market segments. This thesis first introduces a heuristic method to solve the ABP. Second, this thesis presents an optimization model to decide the minimum amount of subsidy needed to make an expensive combination vaccine affordable to people in a low-income country.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Vaccines--Prices--Developing countries; Subsidies--Developing countries; Epidemics--Prevention

Publication Date

6-30-2011

Document Type

Thesis

Department, Program, or Center

Industrial and Systems Engineering (KGCOE)

Advisor

Proaño, Rubén

Comments

Note: imported from RIT’s Digital Media Library running on DSpace to RIT Scholar Works. Physical copy available through RIT's The Wallace Library at: RM281 .Z43 2011

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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