Indonesia has many older citizens who face illnesses that vaccines can stop. Yet the country often lacks a clear way to pick which vaccines to fund first. To tackle this, a group of experts from different fields came together. They wanted to see which shots would help older people the most.
They used a method called SMART vaccines to compare four options: flu, pneumococcal, shingles, and RSV shots. Ten factors were examined, such as how many healthy years are saved, how serious the disease is for seniors, and the money impact. Each factor got a weight based on what the experts thought mattered most. The top factors were healthy years gained, relevance to senior health priorities, avoided early deaths, budget effect, and cost effectiveness.
After scoring, the flu vaccine came out on top w