Optima TB: A tool to help optimally allocate tuberculosis spending

by Lara Gosc é, Gerard J. Abou Jaoude, David J. Kedziora, Clemens Benedikt, Azfar Hussain, Sarah Jarvis, Alena Skrahina, Dzmitry Klimuk, Henadz Hurevich, Feng Zhao, Nicole Fraser-Hurt, Nejma Cheikh, Marelize Gorgens, David J. Wilson, Romesh Abeysuriya, Rowan Martin-Hughes, Sherrie L. Kelly, Anna Roberts, Robyn M. Stuart, Tom Palmer, Jasmina Panovska-Griffiths, Cliff C. Kerr, David P. Wilson, Hassan Haghparast-Bidgoli, Jolene Skordis, Ibrahim Abubakar Approximately 85% of tuberculosis (TB) related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries where health resources are scarce. Effective priority setting is required to maximise the impact of limited budgets. The Optima TB tool has been developed to support analytical capacity and inform evide nce-based priority setting processes for TB health benefits package design. This paper outlines the Optima TB framework and how it was applied in Belarus, an upper-middle income country in Eastern Europe with a relatively high burden of TB. Optima TB is a population-based disease transmission model, with programmatic cost functions and an optimisation algorithm. Modelled populations include age-differentiated general populations and higher-risk populations such as people living with HIV. Populations and prospective interventions are defined in consultation with local stakeholders. In partnersh ip with the latter, demographic, epidemiological, programmatic, as well as cost and spending data for these populations and interventions are t...
Source: PLoS Computational Biology - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: research