Authors

J Widdicombe¹; V J Del Rio Villas¹; A Attema²; M Entezami¹; J M Prada¹;  ¹ University of Surrey, UK;  ² Erasmus University Rotterdam, UK

Discussion

Background – The surveillance of diseases requires a balance of cost versus outcome.
This choice is often made by decision makers and key stakeholders working in one health and isparticularly important in resource constrained settings.  Studies have investigated economic considerations in relation to health outcomes, but few look into the value of information. There are two metrics commonly used to assess the monetary value placed on a commodity (in our case, sensitivity of the disease surveillance system): willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept (WTA). WTP relates to how much money one is willing to invest for an increase in sensitivity, while WTA relates to the expected compensation (i.e. reduction in costs in the surveillance programme) with a decrease in sensitivity. We will apply these concepts to the surveillance of parasitic Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).
Objectives – Our aim is to conduct this elicitation among stakeholders in the NTD community and estimate the WTP and WTA threshold for disease surveillance sensitivity. This will allow us to advise if alternate surveillance options are viable, and thus are more likely to be accepted and implemented by stakeholders.
Method – We will distribute an online survey, which will be open for 4 weeks. Each respondent will be randomly assigned to questions about either WTP or WTA. Two scenarios with two different baseline sensitivities are presented to the respondent. Participants will be asked to declare their investment preference for a specific increase/decrease in sensitivity. Furthermore, they will be asked if they would alter that amount if the outcome was uncertain (E.g the alternate option has a 70% chance to improve surveillance).
Results and Outcomes – We will estimate and compare the difference between WTP and WTA, and respondent’s preference for investment/disinvestment. We will also be able to show how uncertainty affects these thresholds in each scenario. These results will be integrated into a mathematical model for the control of cystic echinococcosis (a NTD of economic importance).