Vaccines: Maarten Postma and the costs of inaction and inoculation

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Econ 050

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The measles were effectively eradicated in much of the western world decades ago, yet the potentially fatal disease has made a fierce comeback in America and Europe due to growing anti-vaccination movements. What are the health costs of enforcing sufficient vaccine coverage in a country? How does a country choose which illnesses to vaccinate against – and how does the Netherlands’ vaccination coverage stand up to the rest of the world? Professor of Global Health Economics Maarten Postma joined us in the studio to talk about how the conversation and science around vaccines has changed in recent decades, and about the costs of medical action and inaction when it comes to inoculation.