Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, patients with advanced HIV experience high mortality during the first few months of antiretroviral therapy (ART), largely attributable to tuberculosis (TB). We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of TB diagnostic strategies to reduce this early mortality. Methods: We developed a decision analytic model to estimate the incremental cost, deaths averted, and cost-effectiveness of 3 TB diagnostic algorithms. The model base case represents current practice (symptoms screening, sputum smear, and chest radiography) in many resource-limited countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We compared the current practice with World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended practice with culture and WHO-recommended practice with the Xpert mycobacterium tuberculosis and resistance to rifampicin test and considered relevant medical costs from a health system perspective using the timeframe of the first 6 months of ART. We conducted univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses on all parameters in the model. Results: When considering TB diagnosis and treatment and ART costs, the cost per patient was $850 for current practice, $809 for the algorithm with Xpert test, and $879 for the algorithm with culture. Our results showed that both WHO-recommended algorithms avert more deaths among TB cases than does the current practice. The algorithm with Xpert test was least costly at reducing early mortality compared with the current practice. Sensitivity analyses indicated that cost-effectiveness findings were stable. Conclusions: Our analysis showed that culture or Xpert were cost-effective at reducing early mortality during the first 6 months of ART compared with the current practice. Thus, our findings provide support for ongoing efforts to expand TB diagnostic capacity.

São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) uses a selective hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination (HepB-BD) strategy targeting infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen. We conducted a field assessment and economic analysis of the HepB-BD strategy to provide evidence to guide development of cost-effective policies to prevent perinatal HBV transmission in STP. We interviewed national stakeholders and key informants to understand policies, knowledge, and practices related to HepB-BD, vaccine management, and data recording/reporting. Cost-effectiveness of the existing strategy was compared with an alternate approach of universal HepB-BD to all newborns using a decision analytic model. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated in 2015 USD per HBV-associated death and per chronic HBV case prevented, from the STP health-care system perspective. We found that STP lacked national or facility-specific written policies and procedures related to HepB-BD. Timely HepB-BD to eligible newborns was considered a high priority, although timeliness of HepB-BD was not monitored. Compared with the existing selective vaccination strategy, universal HepB-BD would result in a 19% decrease in chronic HBV infections per year at overall cost savings of approximately 44% (savings of USD 5,441 each year). We estimate an ICER of USD 5,012 saved per HBV-associated death averted. The existing selective HepB-BD strategy in STP could be improved through documentation of policies, procedures, and timeliness of HepB-BD. Expansion to universal newborn HepB-BD without maternal screening is feasible and could result in cost savings if actual implementation costs and effectiveness fall within the ranges modeled.

After a pilot project in 2014-15 Zimbabwe introduced the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine nationally in 2018 for girls aged 10-14 years through a primarily school-based vaccination campaign with two doses administered at 12-month intervals. In 2019, a first dose was delivered to a new cohort of girls in grade 5 of girls age 10 years if out-of-school (OOS), along with a second dose to the 2018 multiple cohorts. Additional effort was made to identify and mobilize OOS girls by Village Health Workers (VHWs) in the community. Zimbabwe reported 1,569,905 doses of HPV vaccine administered during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns. This analysis evaluated the cost of Zimbabwe's national HPV vaccine introduction. A retrospective, incremental, ingredients-based cost analysis from the provider perspective was conducted in 2018 and 2019. Financial and economic cost data were collected at district and health facility levels using a two-stage cluster sampling approach and four cost dimensions: program activity, resource input, payer, and administrative level. Costs are presented in 2020 US$ in total and per dose. The total weighted costs for combined district and health facility administrative levels were US$ 828,731 (financial) and US$ 2,060,943 (economic). For service delivery, the total weighted cost per dose was US$ 0.16 (financial) and US$ 0.59 (economic). The program activities with the largest share of total weighted financial cost were training (37% of total) and service delivery (30%), while the largest shares of total weighted economic costs were service delivery (45%) and training (19%). Efforts by VHWs to reach OOS girls resulted in an additional US$ 2.99 in financial cost per dose and US$ 7.79 in economic cost per dose. The service delivery cost per dose was lower than that documented in the pilot program cost analysis in Zimbabwe and studies elsewhere, reflecting a campaign delivery approach that spread fixed costs over a large vaccination cohort. The additional cost of reaching OOS girls with the HPV vaccine was documented for the first time in low- and middle-income countries, which may provide information on potential costs for other countries.

The devastating 2010 cholera epidemic in Haiti prompted the government to introduce oral cholera vaccine (OCV) in two high-risk areas of Haiti. We evaluated the direct costs associated with the government’s first vaccine campaign implemented in August–September 2013. We analyzed data for major cost categories and assessed the efficiency of available campaign resources to vaccinate the target population. For a target population of 107,906 persons, campaign costs totaled $624,000 and 215,295 OCV doses were dispensed. The total vaccine and operational cost was $2.90 per dose; vaccine alone cost $1.85 per dose, vaccine delivery and administration $0.70 per dose, and vaccine storage and transport $0.35 per dose. Resources were greater than needed—our analyses suggested that approximately 2.5–6 times as many persons could have been vaccinated during this campaign without increasing the resources allocated for vaccine delivery and administration. These results can inform future OCV campaigns in Haiti.