A Cost Analysis of Options for Schistosomiasis Control Mda Programs Targeting Children Aged Five Years and Below in Umkhanyakude District of Kwazulu-natal Province, South Africa

Abstract

BackgroundSchistosomiasis negatively impacts early childhood development. Inclusion of children aged five years and below in mass drug administration (MDA) programs for controlling schistosomiasis could improve early childhood development in communities where the disease is endemic. We estimated the projected cost of implementing a schistosomiasis control MDA program for children aged five years and below in the uMkhanyakude district of South Africa.MethodWe calculated the cost of implementing a schistosomiasis MDA program targeting children aged five years and below using an economies of scaled based cost function. We further compared different labor composition simulations to determine the most affordable and available human resources to implement the program. We also explored programs to which the MDA program could be integrated; and estimated what the costs for would be. Moreover, we simulated cost-effectiveness and determined the cost drivers for each simulation considered.ResultsA ward-based outreach team (WBOT) for implementing a schistosomiasis MDA program targeting children 5 years old and below was the best labor composition option. The simulations conducted indicated that treating children in batches of 2500 using the WBOT team approach could reduce the cost of treatment by 53% compared to treating the children on batches of 500. Integrating a schistosomiasis MDA targeting children aged 5 years and below with the immunization program was estimated to cost 3% less than integration with the deworming and Vitamin A supplementation program indicating that the former option is more cost-effective. Praziquantel, the drug that is used to treat schistosomiasis contributed 59% of the total cost for such a program.Conclusion.We estimated that US$4.3 million would be needed to implement a cost effective MDA program targeting children 5 years old and blow over 3 years in uMkhanyakude district.

Modelling the cost of engage & treat and test & treat strategies towards the elimination of lymphatic filariasis in Ghana

“…Most studies on the economic evaluation of MDAs for various diseases show that they are cost-effective strategies. These studies are LF-MDA in the Philippines [ 5 ]; LF-MDA in Haiti [ 6 ]; trachoma MDA in South Sudan [ 7 ]; systematic review of economic evaluations of LF interventions [ 8 ]; overview of the MDA programme [ 9 ]; scabies MDA in Fiji [ 10 ]; malaria MDA modelling [ 11 ]; schistosomiasis MDA in South Africa [ 12 ]; focal malaria prevention MDA in Zambia [ 13 ]; programmatic cost of targeted mass drug administration for malaria in Myanmar [ 14 ]; and assessment of the health economic studies of Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) [ 15 ]. Thus, the current study sought to answer the following questions: (1) What is the financial cost of the LF-MDA in Ghana?…”