Model-based impact and cost-effectiveness of cervical cancer prevention in sub-Saharan Africa.

Using population and epidemiologic data for 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, we used a model-based approach to estimate cervical cancer cases and deaths averted, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (I$ (international dollar) per DALY averted) for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of pre-adolescent girls. Additional epidemiologic data from Uganda and South Africa informed estimates of cancer risk reduction and cost-effectiveness ratios associated with pre-adolescent female vaccination followed by screening of women over age 30. Assuming 70% vaccination coverage, over 670,000 cervical cancer cases would be prevented among women in five consecutive birth cohorts vaccinated as young adolescents; over 90% of cases averted were projected to occur in countries eligible for GAVI Alliance support.

Policy implications of adjusting randomized trial data for economic evaluations: a demonstration from the ASCUS-LSIL Triage Study.

Background: Although the randomized controlled trial (RCT) is widely considered the most reliable method for evaluation of health care interventions, challenges to both internal and external validity exist. Thus, the efficacy of an intervention in a trial setting does not necessarily represent the real-world performance that decision makers seek to inform comparative effectiveness studies and economic evaluations.

Methods: Using data from the ASCUS-LSIL Triage Study (ALTS), we performed a simplified economic evaluation of age-based management strategies to detect cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3) among women who were referred to the study with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL).