Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41402868›Full record

ArticleCost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E2025

Economic evaluation of an employee health screening program for Hepatitis C virus in Pakistan.

Asra Qureshi, Theodore Bolas, Unab Inayat Khan, Ashar Muhammad Malik, Nicholas Risko

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Article in Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Asra QureshiDepartment of Family Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. asra.qureshi@aku.edu.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6919-6238
Theodore BolasDepartment of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Unab Inayat KhanDepartment of Family Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Ashar Muhammad MalikDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Nicholas RiskoDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) causes significant global morbidity and mortality, and combating it is a global health priority. Pakistan has a particularly high burden of HCV, including cases that remain undetected and untreated.

methodsIn 2019, a pilot workplace health screening program for chronic diseases, including HCV, was launched at Aga Khan University in Pakistan. We performed an economic evaluation to determine its cost-effectiveness in screening for HCV, inform resource allocation decisions, and advance evidence in this field. Over the course of the screening pilot, 1,809 employees completed enrollment, blood tests, assessment, and consultation. Cost-effectiveness modeling was conducted using a combination of decision-tree and Markov approaches. Univariate and multivariate probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed.

resultsThe median final ICER was $307.39 per DALY averted. Uncertainty around the health status of those lost to follow-up produced a large confidence interval, from $167.92 to $1601.22 per DALY averted, depending on the assumptions made. This screening is estimated to save anywhere from 1 to 14 lives by preventing HCV-induced liver failure, depending on the burden of HCV in the lost to follow-up group, out of a total of 25 HCV-induced liver failure deaths in the control group, between a 44% and a 4% reduction.

conclusionsOur findings support that employee screening for HCV is cost-effective in high-prevalence areas such as Pakistan and a wise investment of health resources. The findings also point to programmatic improvements that could maximize the health benefits and improve the cost-effectiveness of other similar programs.

Indexed as

Cost-effectivenessEconomic evaluationEmployee healthHepatitis C virusScreening

Identifiers

PMID41402868
PMCPMC12821815

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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.