Jets or Jabs: The $500 Million Annual Question That Saves Lives

 

In a world shaped by technological prowess and geopolitical muscle, few symbols scream "power" louder than the F-35 fighter jet. Sleek, stealthy, and brimming with digital firepower, each jet costs around $80–100 million—and that’s just the sticker price. When you add logistics, maintenance, and long-term support, the bill for three jets hovers around $500 million.

Now pause. That same $500 million per year—enough to fund just three jets—could fully vaccinate over 7 million children against deadly, preventable diseases like measles, polio, rotavirus, tetanus, and pneumonia.

It’s the kind of juxtaposition that stops you mid-scroll. UNICEF confirming 14M children had no vaxx at all.

The Case for Jabs

According to UNICEF and WHO, vaccinating one child costs an average of $73.15 in low- and middle-income countries. This includes not only vaccines but also delivery systems: outreach workers, cold chain logistics, syringes, waste disposal, and monitoring.

For $500 million per, governments or donors could finance two full years of immunizations for half the world’s zero-dose children—those who received no vaccines whatsoever in 2024. That’s protection against 11 diseases. That’s around 1 million lives saved annually, not including the spillover benefits of herd immunity and reduced hospital burden plus a lifetime of work too.

Compare that with the lifetime utility of three jets. They may patrol airspace and engage in deterrence, but they will never shield a village from an outbreak or prevent the silent terror of neonatal tetanus.

The Cost of Delay

In 2024 alone, measles surged across 60 countries. Conflict, disinformation, and funding shortfalls led to 14.3 million children missing all vaccines. Death rates among unvaccinated children in fragile zones can range from 7–14%, depending on exposure and medical access. That’s not just tragic—it’s preventable.

Meanwhile, global defence budgets continue their absurd climb. Much of the kit a factor of inter-service rivalry Shiny Toy Syndrome and too expensive to be used or lost and invariably rusting in a warehouse before being obsolete in months or years. Nations spend billions developing air fleets, cyber arsenals, and autonomous weapons. 

Yet the return on investment—measured in human lives protected—leans heavily in favour of basic healthcare. If the 1st Duty of Government is to protect its people then Healthcare trumps F35s.

Rethinking Power

This isn’t an indictment of national defence. Security matters. But it is a call for proportion in a Safer World. For every dollar spent on high-tech deterrence, a fraction could be carved out for immunization equity. 250k war deaths in 2024 versus 1M zero-vaxx deaths are stark numbers. Especially with all tha shiny kit quartered safe in EU far from the wars and disease deaths in Africa.

The next outbreak won’t care about stealth coatings or aerial dogfights. It will spread through refugee camps, slums, and underserved rural areas. It will kill silently, and cheaply.

And it will leave behind statistics that no missile can undo.