Cost analysis of the development and implementation of a spatial decision support system for malaria elimination in Solomon Islands

Malaria Journal

Research

Erick Hale¹  Luke Marston²  Gerard C Kelly²  Andrew Hodge³  Eliana Jimenez-Soto³  Archie CA Clements⁴ 

[1] Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme, Honiara, Solomon Islands;Pacific Malaria Initiative Support Centre, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, PO Box 2119, Honiara, Solomon Islands;School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Public Health Building, Herston Road, Herston, 4006, Brisbane, QLD, Australia;School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Public Health Building, Herston Road, Herston, 4006, Brisbane, QLD, Australia;School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Public Health Building, Herston Road, Herston, 4006, Brisbane, QLD, Australia;Research School of Population Health, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia;

关键词: Malaria elimination;    Cost analyses;    Surveillance;    Geographic information systems;    Spatial decision support systems;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-13-325

 received in 2014-04-04, accepted in 2014-08-11,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe goal of malaria elimination faces numerous challenges. New tools are required to support the scale up of interventions and improve national malaria programme capacity to conduct detailed surveillance. This study investigates the cost factors influencing the development and implementation of a spatial decision support system (SDSS) for malaria elimination in the two elimination provinces of Isabel and Temotu, Solomon Islands.MethodFinancial and economic costs to develop and implement a SDSS were estimated using the Solomon Islands programme’s financial records. Using an ingredients approach, verified by stakeholders and operational reports, total costs for each province were quantified. A budget impact sensitivity analysis was conducted to investigate the influence of variations in standard budgetary components on the costs and to identify potential cost savings.ResultsA total investment of US$ 96,046 (2012 constant dollars) was required to develop and implement the SDSS in two provinces (Temotu Province US$ 49,806 and Isabel Province US$ 46,240). The single largest expense category was for computerized equipment totalling approximately US$ 30,085. Geographical reconnaissance was the most expensive phase of development and implementation, accounting for approximately 62% of total costs. Sensitivity analysis identified different cost factors between the provinces. Reduced equipment costs would deliver a budget saving of approximately 10% in Isabel Province. Combined travel costs represented the greatest influence on the total budget in the more remote Temotu Province.ConclusionThis study provides the first cost analysis of an operational surveillance tool used specifically for malaria elimination in the South-West Pacific. It is demonstrated that the costs of such a decision support system are driven by specialized equipment and travel expenses. Such factors should be closely scrutinized in future programme budgets to ensure maximum efficiencies are gained and available resources are allocated effectively.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Marston et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.