Annual C. trachomatis screening for all women 15 to 29 years of age and selective targeting of those with a history of infection for semiannual screening is very cost-effective compared with other well-accepted clinical interventions.
The economic burden of noncervical HPV disease is substantial. Analyses that assess the value of investments in HPV prevention and control programs should take into account the costs and morbidity and mortality rates that are associated with these conditions.
A cost-effectiveness study by Sue Goldie and colleagues finds that better family planning, provision of safe abortion, and improved intrapartum and emergency obstetrical care could reduce maternal mortality in India by 75% in 5 years.
Objective To assess the comparative health and economic outcomes associated with three alternative first-trimester abortion techniques in Mexico City and to examine the policy implications of increasing access to safe abortion modalities within a restrictive setting.Design Cost-effectiveness analysis.Setting Mexico City.Population Reproductive-aged women with unintended pregnancy seeking first-trimester abortion.Methods Synthesising the best available data, a computer-based model simulates induced abortion and its potential complications and is used to assess the cost-effectiveness of alternative safe modalities for first-trimester pregnancy termination: (1) hospitalbased dilatation and curettage (D&C), (2) hospital-based manual vacuum aspiration (MVA), (3) clinic-based MVA and (4) medical abortion using vaginal misoprostol.Main outcome measures Number of complications, lifetime costs, life expectancy, quality-adjusted life expectancy.Results In comparison to the magnitude of health gains associated with all safe abortion modalities, the relative differences between strategies were more pronounced in terms of their economic costs. Assuming all options were equally available, clinic-based MVA was the least costly and most effective. Medical abortion with misoprostol provided comparable benefits to D&C, but cost substantially less. Enhanced access to safe abortion was always more influential than shifting between safe abortion modalities.Conclusions This study demonstrates that the provision of safe abortion is cost-effective and will result in reduced complications, decreased mortality and substantial cost savings compared with unsafe abortion. In Mexico City, shifting from a practice of hospital-based D&C to clinic-based MVA and enhancing access to medical abortion will have the best chance to minimise abortionrelated morbidity and mortality.
BackgroundIn Mexico, the lifetime risk of dying from maternal causes is 1 in 370 compared to 1 in 2,500 in the U.S. Although national efforts have been made to improve maternal services in the last decade, it is unclear if Millennium Development Goal 5 - to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters by 2015 - will be met.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe developed an empirically calibrated model that simulates the natural history of pregnancy and pregnancy-related complications in a cohort of 15-year-old women followed over their lifetime. After synthesizing national and sub-national trends in maternal mortality, the model was calibrated to current intervention-specific coverage levels and validated by comparing model-projected life expectancy, total fertility rate, crude birth rate and maternal mortality ratio with Mexico-specific data. Using both published and primary data, we assessed the comparative health and economic outcomes of alternative strategies to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. A dual approach that increased coverage of family planning by 15%, and assured access to safe abortion for all women desiring elective termination of pregnancy, reduced mortality by 43% and was cost saving compared to current practice. The most effective strategy added a third component, enhanced access to comprehensive emergency obstetric care for at least 90% of women requiring referral. At a national level, this strategy reduced mortality by 75%, cost less than current practice, and had an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $300 per DALY relative to the next best strategy. Analyses conducted at the state level yielded similar results.Conclusions/SignificanceIncreasing the provision of family planning and assuring access to safe abortion are feasible, complementary and cost-effective strategies that would provide the greatest benefit within a short-time frame. Incremental improvements in access to high-quality intrapartum and emergency obstetric care will further reduce maternal deaths and disability.
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