Cost-effectiveness of cervical cancer screening and preventative cryotherapy at an HIV treatment clinic in Kenya.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the potential cost-effectiveness of cervical cancer screening in HIV treatment clinics in Nairobi, Kenya. METHODS: A Markov model was used to project health outcomes and costs of cervical cancer screening and cryotherapy at an HIV clinic in Kenya using cryotherapy without screening, visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), Papanicolaou smear (Pap), and testing for human papillomavirus (HPV). Direct and indirect medical and non-medical costs were examined from societal and clinic perspectives. RESULTS: Costs of cryotherapy, VIA, Pap, and HPV for women with CD4 200-500 cells/mL were $99, $196, $219, and $223 from a societal perspective and $19, $94, $124, and $113 from a clinic perspective, with 17.3, 17.1, 17.1, and 17.1 years of life expectancy, respectively. Women at higher CD4 counts (>500 cells/mL) given cryotherapy VIA, Pap, and HPV resulted in better life expectancies (19.9+ years) and lower cost (societal: $49, $99, $115, and $102; clinic: $13, $51, $71, and $56). VIA was less expensive than HPV unless HPV screening could be reduced to a single visit. CONCLUSIONS: Preventative cryotherapy was the least expensive strategy and resulted in highest projected life expectancy, while VIA was most cost-effective unless HPV could be reduced to a single visit.

Estimating the costs of HIV clinic integrated versus non-integrated treatment of pre-cancerous cervical lesions and costs of cervical cancer treatment in Kenya.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the modified societal costs of cervical cancer treatment in Kenya; and to compare the modified societal costs of treatment for pre-cancerous cervical lesions integrated into same-day HIV care compared to "non-integrated" treatment when the services are not coordinated on the same day. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A micro-costing study was conducted at Coptic Hope Center for Infectious Diseases and Kenyatta National Hospital from July 1-October 31, 2014. Interviews were conducted with 54 patients and 23 staff. Direct medical, non-medical (e.g., overhead), and indirect (e.g., time) costs were calculated for colposcopy, cryotherapy, Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP), and treatment of cancer. All costs are reported in 2017 US dollars. RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 41 and daily earnings of $6; travel time to the facility averaged 2.8 hours. From the modified societal perspective, per-procedure costs of colposcopy were $41 (integrated) vs. $91 (non-integrated). Per-procedure costs of cryotherapy were $22 (integrated) vs. $46 (non-integrated), whereas costs of LEEP were $50 (integrated) and $99 (non-integrated). This represents cost savings of $25 for cryotherapy and $50 for colposcopy and LEEP when provided on the same day as an HIV-care visit. Treatment for cervical cancer cost $1,345-$6,514, depending on stage. Facility-based palliative care cost $59/day. CONCLUSIONS: Integrating treatment of pre-cancerous lesions into HIV care is estimated to be cost-saving from a modified societal perspective. These costs can be applied to financial and economic evaluations in Kenya and similar urban settings in other low-income countries.

Costs of integrating cervical cancer screening at an HIV clinic in Kenya.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the societal-level costs of integrating cervical cancer screening into HIV clinics in Nairobi, Kenya. METHODS: A cross-sectional micro-costing study was performed at Coptic Hope Center for Infectious Diseases and Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya, between July 1 and October 31, 2014. To estimate direct medical, non-medical, and indirect costs associated with screening, a time-and-motion study was performed, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with women aged at least 18 years attending the clinic for screening during the study period and with clinic staff who had experience relevant to cervical cancer screening. RESULTS: There were 148 patients and 23 clinic staff who participated in interviews. Visual inspection with acetic acid was associated with the lowest estimated marginal per-screening costs ($3.30), followed by careHPV ($18.28), Papanicolaou ($24.59), and Hybrid Capture 2 screening ($31.15). Laboratory expenses were the main cost drivers for Papanicolaou and Hybrid Capture 2 testing ($11.61 and $16.41, respectively). Overhead and patient transportation affected the costs of all methods. Indirect costs were cheaper for single-visit screening methods ($0.43 per screening) than two-visit screening methods ($2.88 per screening). CONCLUSIONS: Integrating cervical cancer screening into HIV clinics would be cost-saving from a societal perspective compared with non-integrated screening. These findings could be used in cost-effectiveness analyses to assess incremental costs per clinical outcome in an integrated setting.

Analysis of Universal Health Coverage and Equity on Health Care in Kenya.

Kenya has made progress towards universal health coverage as evidenced in the various policy initiatives and reforms that have been implemented in the country since independence. The purpose of this analysis was to critically review the various initiatives that the government of Kenya has over the years initiated towards the realization of Universal Health Care (UHC) and how this has impacted on health equity. The paper relied heavly on secondary sources of information although primary data data was collected. Whereas secondary data was largely collected through critical review of policy documents and commissioned studies by the Ministry of Health and development partners, primary data was collected through interviews with various stakeholders involved in UHC including policy makers, implementers, researchers and health service providers. Key findings include commitment towards UHC; minimal solidarity in health care financing; cases of dysfunctionalilty of health care system; minimal opportunities for continuous medical training; quality concerns in terms of stock-outs of drugs and other medical supplies, dilapidated health infrastructure and inadequqte number of health workers. Other findings include governance concerns at NHIF coupled with, high operational costs, low capitation, fraud at facility levels, low pay out ratio, accreditation of facilities, and narrowness of the benefit package, among others. In lieu of these, various recommendations have been suggested. Among these include promotion of solidarty in health care financing that are reliable and economical in collecting; political will to enhance commitment towards devolution of health care, engagement of various stakeholders at both county and national government in fast tracking the enactment of Health Act; investment in health infrastructure and training of human resources; revamping NHIF into a full-fledged social health insurance scheme, and enhancing capacity of NHIF human resources, enhanced awareness amongst members, enhanced benefit package among other recommendations.