ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2011
The cost of antibiotic mass drug administration for trachoma control in a remote area of South Sudan.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Targeted Mass Azithromycin Distribution for Trachoma: A Community-Randomized Trial (TANA II).Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2023Trial
- Trial
- The easiest children to reach are most likely to be infected with ocular Chlamydia trachomatis in trachoma endemic areas of Niger.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2013Trial
- The Cost of Annual and More Frequent Than Annual Mass Drug Administration for Trachoma in Two Districts in Amhara, Ethiopia.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2026Article
- Azithromycin mass drug administration to reduce childhood mortality in humanitarian crises.PLOS global public health · 2026Review
- Micro-costing for national-scale azithromycin mass drug administration to improve child survival in Niger.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Corneal pannus, Herbert's pits and conjunctival inflammation in older children in Papua New Guinea.Ophthalmic epidemiology · 2024Article
- Modelling the cost of engage & treat and test & treat strategies towards the elimination of lymphatic filariasis in Ghana.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- The cost of mass drug administration for trachoma in two counties of the Republic of South Sudan.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Cost and community acceptability of enhanced antibiotic distribution approaches for trachoma in the Republic of South Sudan: enhancing the A in SAFE (ETAS) study protocol.BMC ophthalmology · 2023Article
- Costs of mass drug administration for scabies in Fiji.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Factors influencing mass drug administration adherence and community drug distributor opportunity costs in Liberia: a mixed-methods approach.Parasites & vectors · 2021Article
- Modeling the Cost-Effectiveness of Interventions to Prevent Plague in Madagascar.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2021Article
- The Importance of Failure: How Doing Impact Surveys That Fail Saves Trachoma Programs Money.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2020Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Mass Treatment with Azithromycin for Reducing Child Mortality in Malawi: Secondary Analysis from the MORDOR Trial.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2020Article
- A mixed methods approach to evaluating community drug distributor performance in the control of neglected tropical diseases.Parasites & vectors · 2016Article
- Costs of testing for ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection compared to mass drug administration for trachoma in the Gambia: application of results from the PRET study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2015Article
- Logistics of Guinea worm disease eradication in South Sudan.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2014Article
- Resource planning for neglected tropical disease (NTD) control programs: feasibility study of the Tool for Integrated Planning and Costing (TIPAC).PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2014Article
- Trachoma: an update on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.Current opinion in ophthalmology · 2012Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMass drug administration (MDA) of antibiotics is a key component of the so-called "SAFE" strategy for trachoma control, while MDA of anthelminthics provides the cornerstone for control of a number of other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Simultaneous delivery of two or more of these drugs, renowned as "integrated NTD control," is being promoted to reduce costs and expand intervention coverage. A cost analysis was conducted alongside an MDA campaign in a remote trachoma endemic area, to inform budgeting for NTD control in South Sudan. METHODS AND
findingsA first round of antibiotic MDA was conducted in the highly trachoma endemic county of Mayom, Unity state, from June to August 2010. A core team of seven staff delivered the intervention, including recruitment and training of 44 supervisors and 542 community drug distributors. Using an ingredients approach, financial and economic costs were captured from the provider perspective in a detailed costing database. Overall, 123,760 individuals were treated for trachoma, resulting in an estimated treatment coverage of 94%. The economic cost per person treated was USD 1.53, excluding the cost of the antibiotic azithromycin. Ninety four per cent of the delivery costs were recurrent costs, with personnel and travel/transport costs taking up the largest share.
conclusionsIn a remote setting and for the initial round, MDA of antibiotics was considerably more expensive than USD 0.5 per person treated, an estimate frequently quoted to advocate for integrated NTD control. Drug delivery costs in South Sudan are unlikely to decrease substantially during subsequent MDA rounds, as the major cost drivers were recurrent costs. MDA campaigns for delivery of one or more drugs in South Sudan should thus be budgeted at around USD 1.5 per person treated, at least until further costing data for delivery of other NTD drugs, singly or in combination, are available.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.