Scaling up integrated prevention campaigns for global health: costs and cost-effectiveness in 70 countries

Abstract

Objective: This study estimated the health impact, cost and cost-effectiveness of an integrated prevention campaign (IPC) focused on diarrhoea, malaria and HIV in 70 countries ranked by per capita disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) burden for the three diseases.

Methods: We constructed a deterministic cost-effectiveness model portraying an IPC combining counselling and testing, cotrimoxazole prophylaxis, referral to treatment and condom distribution for HIV prevention; bed nets for malaria prevention; and provision of household water filters for diarrhoea prevention. We developed a mix of empirical and modelled cost and health impact estimates applied to all 70 countries. One-way, multiway and scenario sensitivity analyses were conducted to document the strength of our findings. We used a healthcare payer's perspective, discounted costs and DALYs at 3% per year and denominated cost in 2012 US dollars.

Primary and secondary outcomes: The primary outcome was cost-effectiveness expressed as net cost per DALY averted. Other outcomes included cost of the IPC; net IPC costs adjusted for averted and additional medical costs and DALYs averted.

Results: Implementation of the IPC in the 10 most cost-effective countries at 15% population coverage would cost US$583 million over 3 years (adjusted costs of US$398 million), averting 8.0 million DALYs. Extending IPC programmes to all 70 of the identified high-burden countries at 15% coverage would cost an adjusted US$51.3 billion and avert 78.7 million DALYs. Incremental cost-effectiveness ranged from US$49 per DALY averted for the 10 countries with the most favourable cost-effectiveness to US$119, US$181, US$335, US$1692 and US$8340 per DALY averted as each successive group of 10 countries is added ordered by decreasing cost-effectiveness.

Conclusions: IPC appears cost-effective in many settings, and has the potential to substantially reduce the burden of disease in resource-poor countries. This study increases confidence that IPC can be an important new approach for enhancing global health.

Keywords: Health Economics.

Figure 1

Cost-effectiveness (net integrated prevention campaign (IPC) cost per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted) and Opportunity Index (DALYs per capita; Campaign 1, n=70).

Figure 2

Tornado graph of Cost per DALY averted—Nigeria: impact by input (ART, antiretroviral therapy; DALY, disability-adjusted life-year).

Figure 3

One-way sensitivity analysis of incremental cost-effectiveness by three key variables in 10-country increments ranked by integrated prevention campaign (IPC) cost-effectiveness.

Figure 4

Result of 20 000-trial Monte Carlo simulation: correlation between input values and cost per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted—Nigeria.