Costs of integrated mass drug administration for neglected tropical diseases in Haiti

Abstract

We conducted a cost analysis of Haiti's Ministry of Public Health and Population neglected tropical disease program, Projet des Maladies Tropicales Negligees and collected data for 9 of 55 communes participating in the May 2008 April 2009 mass drug administration (MDA). The Projet des Maladies Tropicales Negligees Program partnered with IMA World Health and Hopital Ste. Croix to implement MDA for treatment of lymphatic filariasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis by using once a year treatment with albendazole and diethylcarbamazine in a population of approximately 8 million persons. Methods included analyzing partner financial records and conducting retrospective surveys of personnel. In the nine communes, 633,261 persons were treated at a cost of U.S. $0.64 per person, which included the cost of donated drugs, and at a cost of U.S. $0.42 per person treated, when excluding donated drug costs. The MDA for lymphatic filariasis in Haiti began in 2000, with the treatment of 105,750 persons at a cost per person of U.S. $2.23. The decrease in cost per person treated is the result of cumulative implementation experience and economies of scale