Routine implementation costs of larviciding with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis against malaria vectors in a district in rural Burkina Faso

Malaria Journal

Research

Issouf Traoré¹  Ali Sié¹  Achim Kaiser²  Norbert Becker³  Rainer Sauerborn⁴  Peter Dambach⁴  Hans-Christian Stahl⁴  Michael Schleicher⁵ 

[1] Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna, Nouna, Burkina Faso;German Mosquito Control Association (KABS), Speyer, Germany;German Mosquito Control Association (KABS), Speyer, Germany;Centre for Organismal Studies, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;Institute of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany;

关键词: Malaria;    Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis;    Vector control;    Cost analysis;    Larval source management;    Burkina Faso;    West Africa;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12936-016-1438-8

 received in 2016-04-27, accepted in 2016-07-12,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe key tools in malaria control are early diagnosis and treatment of cases as well as vector control. Current strategies for malaria vector control in sub-Saharan Africa are largely based on long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) and to a much smaller extent on indoor residual spraying (IRS). An additional tool in the fight against malaria vectors, larval source management (LSM), has not been used in sub-Saharan Africa on a wider scale since the abandonment of environmental spraying of DDT. Increasing concerns about limitations of LLINs and IRS and encouraging results from large larvicide-based LSM trials make a strong case for using biological larviciding as a complementary tool to existing control measures. Arguments that are often quoted against such a combined approach are the alleged high implementation costs of LSM. This study makes the first step to test this argument. The implementation costs of larval source management based on Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) (strain AM65-52) spraying under different implementation scenarios were analysed in a rural health district in Burkina Faso.MethodsThe analysis draws on detailed cost data gathered during a large-scale LSM intervention between 2013 and 2015. All 127 villages in the study setup were assigned to two treatment arms and one control group. Treatment either implied exhaustive spraying of all available water collections or targeted spraying of the 50 % most productive larval sources via remote-sensing derived and entomologically validated risk maps. Based on the cost reports from both intervention arms, the per capita programme costs were calculated under the assumption of covering the whole district with either intervention scenario. Cost calculations have been generalized by providing an adaptable cost formula. In addition, this study assesses the sensitivity of per capita programme costs with respect to changes in the underlying cost components.ResultsThe average annual per capita costs of exhaustive larviciding with Bti during the main malaria transmission period (June–October) in the Nouna health district were calculated to be US$ 1.05. When targeted spraying of the 50 % most productive larval sources is used instead, average annual per capita costs decrease by 27 % to US$ 0.77. Additionally, a high sensitivity of per capita programme costs against changes in total surface of potential larval sources and the number of spraying repetitions was found.DiscussionThe per capita costs for larval source management interventions with Bti are roughly a third of the annual per capita expenditures for anti-malarial drugs and those for LLINs in Burkina Faso which are US$ 3.80 and 3.00, respectively. The average LSM costs compare to those of IRS and LLINs for sub-Saharan Africa. The authors argue that in such a setting LSM based on Bti spraying is within the range of affordable anti-malarial strategies and, consequently, should deserve more attention in practice. Future research includes a cost-benefit calculation, based on entomological and epidemiological data collected during the research project.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2016