PHFI

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are emerging as a major health issue in India. Effective interventions for NCD prevention and control are not available.

In order to increase the evidence-base for NCD prevention and control in India, the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project conducted pilot programmes in prevention, screening and treatment for hypertension and cancer of the cervix in two districts in Tamil Nadu.

This study focused on the estimation of programmatic costs related to the two projects and provided estimates of cost per case screened and treated. These estimates could be used towards development of a cost-effectiveness analysis depending on the availability of the effectiveness data from the project. The study has calculated the economic costs of setting up and running the project within the existing health systems and would be useful for estimating scaling up as well as replication in other settings. The study did not look at costs of setting up existing health infrastructure, but assumed an integrated approach.

The study costed two components of the pilot project: a) Prevention and treatment of hypertension and b) Prevention and treatment of cervical cancer among women in selected districts of Tamil Nadu. Allotted and actual costs were calculated and additional cost ratios have been calculated for both the pilots.