Estimating the government health-care costs of treating pesticide poisoned and pesticide self-poisoned patients in Sri Lanka.

Background: Pesticide self-poisoning as a method of suicide is a major global health problem.Objectives: To estimate the cost and per patient cost of treating pesticide self-poisoning at different hospital levels in a Sri Lankan district, and to examine the distribution of cost components. Another objective was to investigate changes in total cost of treatment of pesticide poisoning for all causes at different administrative levels in Sri Lanka in 2005 and 2015.Methods: The economic framework was a costing analysis, adopting a government perspective. Cost data were collected prospectively over a 4-month period in 2016 for patients admitted for pesticide self-poisoning to six hospitals in the Anuradhapura District. Assumption-based scenario analyses were run to determine changes in total pesticide poisoning treatment costs.Results: We included 67 self-poisoned patients in the study. The total cost of treatment was US$ 5,714 at an average treatment cost of US$ 85.3 (9.7-286.6) per patient (across all hospital levels). Hospital costs constituted 67% of the total cost for treating self-poisoning cases and patient-specific costs accounted for 29%. Direct cost of patient hospital transfer constituted the smallest share of costs (4%) but accounted for almost half of the total costs at primary level. The estimated total cost of treating all causes of pesticide poisoning in Sri Lanka was US$ 2.5 million or 0.19% of the total government health expenditure (GHE) in 2015.Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the average per patient cost of pesticide self-poisoning treatment has increased while the total cost of pesticide poisoning treatment as a percentage of the total GHE in Sri Lanka has declined over the past decade. A continuous focus on banning the most hazardous pesticides available would likely further drive down the cost of pesticide self-poisoning and pesticide poisoning to the government.

Estimating the costs of implementing the rotavirus vaccine in the national immunisation programme: the case of Malawi.

OBJECTIVES: Worldwide, rotavirus infections cause approximately 453,000 child deaths annually. Two licensed vaccines could be life- and cost-saving in low-income countries where the disease burden is highest. The aim of our study was to estimate the total cost of implementing the rotavirus vaccine in the national immunisation programme of a low-income country. Furthermore, the aim was to examine the relative contribution of different components to the total cost. METHODS: Following the World Health Organization guidelines, we estimated the resource use and costs associated with rotavirus vaccine implementation, using Malawi as a case. The cost analysis was undertaken from a governmental perspective. All costs were calculated for a 5-years period (2012-2016) and discounted at 5%. The value of key input parameters was varied in a sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: The total cost of rotavirus vaccine implementation in Malawi amounted to US$ 18.5 million over a 5-years period. This translated into US$ 5.8 per child in the birth cohort. With GAVI Alliance financial support, the total cost was reduced to US$ 1.4 per child in the birth cohort. Approximately 83% of the total cost was attributed to vaccine purchase, while 17% was attributed to system costs, with personnel, transportation and cold chain as the main cost components. CONCLUSION: The total cost of rotavirus vaccine implementation in Malawi is high compared with the governmental health budget of US$ 26 per capita per year. This highlights the need for new financing opportunities for low-income countries to facilitate vaccine implementation and ensure sustainable financing.

Outstanding challenges for rotavirus vaccine introduction in low-income countries--a systematic review.

Rotavirus infections are the most common cause of severe diarrhoea in children worldwide. Two internationally licensed rotavirus vaccines have proven to be efficacious in middle and high-income countries and they could potentially be valuable tools for the prevention of rotavirus-associated diarrhoea in low-income countries where the disease burden is greatest. However, before the vaccines can be introduced into the national immunisation programmes in these countries, many challenges related to the financing of vaccine purchase, the cold chain capacity and vaccine efficacy must be overcome. There is also a need for political commitment to prevent rotavirus infections as well as a need for an overall strengthening of the health systems in low-income countries. If these challenges were met, rotavirus vaccination could substantially improve child health and survival from rotavirus-associated diarrhoea.