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Adams KP, Vosti SA, Arnold CD, Engle-Stone R, Prado EL, Stewart CP, Wessells KR, Dewey KG. The cost-effectiveness of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements for prevention of child death and malnutrition and promotion of healthy development: modelling results for Uganda. Public Health Nutr 2023; 26:2083-2095. [PMID: 37606091 PMCID: PMC10564609 DOI: 10.1017/s1368980023001805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Recent meta-analyses demonstrate that small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) for young children significantly reduce child mortality, stunting, wasting, anaemia and adverse developmental outcomes. Cost considerations should inform policy decisions. We developed a modelling framework to estimate the cost and cost-effectiveness of SQ-LNS and applied the framework in the context of rural Uganda. DESIGN We adapted costs from a costing study of micronutrient powder (MNP) in Uganda, and based effectiveness estimates on recent meta-analyses and Uganda-specific estimates of baseline mortality and the prevalence of stunting, wasting, anaemia and developmental disability. SETTING Rural Uganda. PARTICIPANTS Not applicable. RESULTS Providing SQ-LNS daily to all children in rural Uganda (> 1 million) for 12 months (from 6 to 18 months of age) via the existing Village Health Team system would cost ∼$52 per child (2020 US dollars) or ∼$58·7 million annually. SQ-LNS could avert an average of > 242 000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) annually as a result of preventing 3689 deaths, > 160 000 cases of moderate or severe anaemia and ∼6000 cases of developmental disability. The estimated cost per DALY averted is $242. CONCLUSIONS In this context, SQ-LNS may be more cost-effective than other options such as MNP or the provision of complementary food, although the total cost for a programme including all age-eligible children would be high. Strategies to reduce costs, such as targeting to the most vulnerable populations and the elimination of taxes on SQ-LNS, may enhance financial feasibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine P Adams
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Stephen A Vosti
- Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Charles D Arnold
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Reina Engle-Stone
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Elizabeth L Prado
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Christine P Stewart
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - K Ryan Wessells
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
| | - Kathryn G Dewey
- Institute for Global Nutrition, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
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Akpan E, Hossain SJ, Devine A, Braat S, Hasan MI, Tipu SMMU, Bhuiyan MSA, Hamadani JD, Biggs BA, Pasricha SR, Carvalho N. Cost-effectiveness of universal iron supplementation and iron-containing micronutrient powders for anemia among young children in rural Bangladesh: analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 2022; 116:1303-1313. [PMID: 36192508 PMCID: PMC9630870 DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Universal provision of iron supplements or iron-containing multiple micronutrient powders (MNPs) is widely used to prevent anemia in young children in low- and middle-income countries. The BRISC (Benefits and Risks of Iron Interventions in Children) trial compared iron supplements and MNPs with placebo in children <2 y old in rural Bangladesh. OBJECTIVES We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of iron supplements or iron-containing MNPs among young children in rural Bangladesh. METHODS We did a cost-effectiveness analysis of MNPs and iron supplements using the BRISC trial outcomes and resource use data, and programmatic data from the literature. Health care costs were assessed from a health system perspective. We calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) in terms of US$ per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted. To explore uncertainty, we constructed cost-effectiveness acceptability curves using bootstrapped data over a range of cost-effectiveness thresholds. One- and 2-way sensitivity analyses tested the impact of varying key parameter values on our results. RESULTS Provision of MNPs was estimated to avert 0.0031 (95% CI: 0.0022, 0.0041) DALYs/child, whereas iron supplements averted 0.0039 (95% CI: 0.0030, 0.0048) DALYs/child, over 1 y compared with no intervention. Incremental mean costs were $0.75 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.77) for MNPs compared with no intervention and $0.64 ($0.62, $0.67) for iron supplements compared with no intervention. Iron supplementation dominated MNPs because it was cheaper and averted more DALYs. Iron supplementation had an ICER of $1645 ($1333, $2153) per DALY averted compared with no intervention, and had a 0% probability of being the optimal strategy at cost-effectiveness thresholds of $200 (reflecting health opportunity costs in Bangladesh) and $985 [half of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita] per DALY averted. Scenario and sensitivity analyses supported the base case findings. CONCLUSIONS These findings do not support universal iron supplementation or micronutrient powders as a cost-effective intervention for young children in rural Bangladesh.This trial was registered at anzctr.org.au as ACTRN1261700066038 and trialsearch.who.int as U1111-1196-1125.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edifofon Akpan
- Centre for Health Policy, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sheikh J Hossain
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Maternal and Child Health Division, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh,Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Angela Devine
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia,Division of Global and Tropical Health, Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
| | - Sabine Braat
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia,Population Health and Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia,Department of Medicine at the Peter Doherty Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Mohammed I Hasan
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Maternal and Child Health Division, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - S M Mulk Uddin Tipu
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Maternal and Child Health Division, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Mohammad Saiful Alam Bhuiyan
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Maternal and Child Health Division, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Jena D Hamadani
- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Maternal and Child Health Division, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Beverley-Ann Biggs
- Department of Medicine at the Peter Doherty Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sant-Rayn Pasricha
- Population Health and Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Victoria, Australia,Diagnostic Hematology, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia,Clinical Hematology, The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia,Department of Medical Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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