Economic evaluations of lymphatic filariasis interventions

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Economic evaluations of lymphatic filariasis interventions
Introduction
Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is an infectious disease that originates from parasitic helminthes that are spread by mosquitoes. In 1997, 73 nations were in danger of Lymphatic filariasis, which resulted into the infection of 120 million people globally. In 2000, Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the aim of eliminating LF by 2020. To establish the economic impact of the interventions used to eliminate LF, Gedge conducted a systematic review on 12 reports that described the use of various interventions in various regions. Therefore, this paper aims at summarizing Gedge findings, explaining biological concepts used in the study, and describing the connection between the study and public health challenges.
Summary of “Economic evaluations of lymphatic filariasis interventions: a systematic review and research needs.”
The study was conducted based on data that was collected in December from ISI Web of Science and Pubmed databases. Since each set of data was initially used in a different research, the study subjected all the collected data to various economical measures. WHO elimination strategy involved delivering Multiple Drug Administration (MDA) to patients as a means of managing their morbidity. As a result, the economical evaluation of the study was based on the cost of treatment, purchasing, and delivering the drugs. Although economic status vary depending on geographical region and inflation rates, the strategies adopted by WHO to eliminate lymphatic filariasis were found to be generally cost effective (Gedge, p 16).
A major limitation of the article is that was based on only 12 reports thus missing the chance to draw from a large sample of relevant studies. In addition, some elements of the reports such as methodological information were not clear. The article also points out that the other researches were biased and only reported positive results. Based on these limitations, the article recommends that a study should be carried out with the objective of evaluating the economic state of alternative methods of eliminating lymphatic filariasis.
Biological concepts
A major biological concept in the article is the Mass Drug Administration (MDA), which is a concept that describes the administration of drugs to a large population irrespective of disease status. The concept was first used as a malaria control measure through anti-malaria drugs. However, in the article, MDA was carried out in West Africa and India because it was deemed to be more effective in eliminating lymphatic filariasis. However, ...