Is DOTS Plus A Cost Effective Strategies For Treating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis?

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  Tropical Diseases
Article Date: 15 Sep 2006 - 1:00 PDT

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A research paper published this week in the international open access journal PLoS Medicine evaluated the feasibility, effectiveness, cost, and cost-effectiveness of a DOTS-Plus pilot project established at Makati Medical Center in Manila, the Philippines, in 1999. The authors, led by Katherine Floyd of the World Health Organisation, studied 117 patients and showed that in this setting the average cost to the health system was US$3,355, and US$837 to the patients. The authors calculated that the mean cost per disability-adjusted life year (DALY) gained by the DOTS-Plus project was US$242 (range US$85 to US$426). In a related perspective, Paul Garner and colleagues from the Liverpool School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine assess the implications of these findings further, especially whether they can be extrapolated outside this specific setting.

Citation: Tupasi TE, Gupta R, Quelapio MID, Quelapio RB, Mira NR, et al. (2006) Feasibility and cost-effectiveness of treating multidrug-resistant tuberculosis: A cohort study in the Philippines. PLoS Med 3(9): e352.

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CONTACT:
Katherine Floyd
World Health Organization
Stop TB
20 Avenue Appia
Geneva, CH 1211
Switzerland

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