Austerity, measles and mandatory vaccination: cross-regional analysis of vaccination in Italy 2000-14.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Italy has experienced a resurgence in measles since 2015. Although much emphasis has been placed on the role of individuals opting out of vaccination, here we test the hypothesis that large budget reductions in public health spending were also a contributing factor.

Methods

Multi-variate statistical models were used to assess the relationship between measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) coverage and real public health expenditure per-capita across Italy's 20 regions covering the period 2000-14.

Results

Between 2010 and 2014 Italy's public health expenditure fell by over 2%, although varying among regions. Fixed effects models estimate that each 1% reduction in per-capita public health expenditure was associated with a decrease of 0.5 percentage points (95% CI:

SUBMITTER: Toffolutti V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6345202 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature