Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun 1;18(6):e1003614.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003614. eCollection 2021 Jun.

Global economic costs due to vivax malaria and the potential impact of its radical cure: A modelling study

Affiliations

Global economic costs due to vivax malaria and the potential impact of its radical cure: A modelling study

Angela Devine et al. PLoS Med. .

Abstract

Background: In 2017, an estimated 14 million cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria were reported from Asia, Central and South America, and the Horn of Africa. The clinical burden of vivax malaria is largely driven by its ability to form dormant liver stages (hypnozoites) that can reactivate to cause recurrent episodes of malaria. Elimination of both the blood and liver stages of the parasites ("radical cure") is required to achieve a sustained clinical response and prevent ongoing transmission of the parasite. Novel treatment options and point-of-care diagnostics are now available to ensure that radical cure can be administered safely and effectively. We quantified the global economic cost of vivax malaria and estimated the potential cost benefit of a policy of radical cure after testing patients for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency.

Methods and findings: Estimates of the healthcare provider and household costs due to vivax malaria were collated and combined with national case estimates for 44 endemic countries in 2017. These provider and household costs were compared with those that would be incurred under 2 scenarios for radical cure following G6PD screening: (1) complete adherence following daily supervised primaquine therapy and (2) unsupervised treatment with an assumed 40% effectiveness. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis generated credible intervals (CrIs) for the estimates. Globally, the annual cost of vivax malaria was US$359 million (95% CrI: US$222 to 563 million), attributable to 14.2 million cases of vivax malaria in 2017. From a societal perspective, adopting a policy of G6PD deficiency screening and supervision of primaquine to all eligible patients would prevent 6.1 million cases and reduce the global cost of vivax malaria to US$266 million (95% CrI: US$161 to 415 million), although healthcare provider costs would increase by US$39 million. If perfect adherence could be achieved with a single visit, then the global cost would fall further to US$225 million, equivalent to $135 million in cost savings from the baseline global costs. A policy of unsupervised primaquine reduced the cost to US$342 million (95% CrI: US$209 to 532 million) while preventing 2.1 million cases. Limitations of the study include partial availability of country-level cost data and parameter uncertainty for the proportion of patients prescribed primaquine, patient adherence to a full course of primaquine, and effectiveness of primaquine when unsupervised.

Conclusions: Our modelling study highlights a substantial global economic burden of vivax malaria that could be reduced through investment in safe and effective radical cure achieved by routine screening for G6PD deficiency and supervision of treatment. Novel, low-cost interventions for improving adherence to primaquine to ensure effective radical cure and widespread access to screening for G6PD deficiency will be critical to achieving the timely global elimination of P. vivax.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flow diagram for the application of costs in the radical cure scenarios.
Of those prescribed radical cure, only those who are G6PD normal are able to have an effective dose.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Global map of the economic cost burden due to vivax malaria and potential impact of radical cure.
(A) The baseline global costs, (B) the Supervised radical cure scenario, and (C) the Unsupervised radical cure scenario. Percentage change in total costs from the baseline global costs are shown for the radical cure scenarios. Costs are in 2017 United States Dollars. Countries in light grey are thought to have endemic P. vivax but insufficient information to generate case estimates. Countries in dark grey have insufficient cost data. Global national shapefile obtained from the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP; https://malariaatlas.org/) and available for download through the malariaAtlas R package.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Comparison of provider, household, and total cost comparison of the baseline global costs and the Supervised radical cure and Unsupervised radical cure scenarios.
Sensitivity analyses for the Supervised radical cure scenario included 6 visits and 1 visit of supervision as compared to 13 visits. Costs are in 2017 United States Dollars.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bhatt S, Weiss DJ, Cameron E, Bisanzio D, Mappin B, Dalrymple U, et al.. The effect of malaria control on Plasmodium falciparum in Africa between 2000 and 2015. Nature. 2015;526(7572):207–11. Epub 2015/09/17. 10.1038/nature15535 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Battle KE, Lucas TCD, Nguyen M, Howes RE, Nandi AK, Twohig KA, et al.. Mapping the global endemicity and clinical burden of Plasmodium vivax, 2000–17: a spatial and temporal modelling study. Lancet. 2019;394(10195):332–43. Epub 2019/06/24. 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31096-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Price RN, Commons RJ, Battle KE, Thriemer K, Mendis K. Plasmodium vivax in the Era of the Shrinking P. falciparum Map. Trends Parasitol. 2020;36(6):560–70. Epub 2020/05/15. 10.1016/j.pt.2020.03.009 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dini S, Douglas NM, Poespoprodjo JR, Kenangalem E, Sugiarto P, Plumb ID, et al.. The risk of morbidity and mortality following recurrent malaria in Papua, Indonesia: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Med. 2020;18(1):28. Epub 2020/02/23. 10.1186/s12916-020-1497-0 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baird JK. Evidence and implications of mortality associated with acute Plasmodium vivax malaria. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2013;26(1):36–57. Epub 2013/01/09. 10.1128/CMR.00074-12 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms