Five Ways that COVID-19 Diagnostics Can Save Lives : Prioritizing Uses of Tests to Maximize Cost-Effectiveness

Five Ways that COVID-19 Diagnostics Can Save Lives : Prioritizing Uses of Tests to Maximize Cost-Effectiveness

Supplies of diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus), are still limited in many countries, and there is uncertainty about how to allocate the scarce supply across alternative types of testing (use cases). This R...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Reed, Tristan, Waites, William, Manheim, David, de Walque, Damien, Vallini, Chiara, Gatti, Roberta, Hallett, Timothy B.
Format: Brief
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
VIRUS TESTING
COST-EFFECTIVENESS
CLINICAL TRIAGE
WORKER SCREENING
POPULATION SURVEILLANCE
TEST-TRACE-ISOLATE
BORDERING SCREENING
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/426741613767908998/Five-Ways-that-COVID-19-Diagnostics-Can-Save-Lives-Prioritizing-Uses-of-Tests-to-Maximize-Cost-Effectiveness
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35150
id okr-10986-35150
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-351502021-09-16T21:09:09Z Five Ways that COVID-19 Diagnostics Can Save Lives : Prioritizing Uses of Tests to Maximize Cost-Effectiveness Reed, Tristan Waites, William Manheim, David de Walque, Damien Vallini, Chiara Gatti, Roberta Hallett, Timothy B. CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE VIRUS TESTING COST-EFFECTIVENESS CLINICAL TRIAGE WORKER SCREENING POPULATION SURVEILLANCE TEST-TRACE-ISOLATE BORDERING SCREENING Supplies of diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus), are still limited in many countries, and there is uncertainty about how to allocate the scarce supply across alternative types of testing (use cases). This Research & Policy Brief quantifies the cost-effectiveness of five alternative diagnostic use cases in terms of tests required per death averted. Across use cases, a single death can be averted by administering 940 to 8,838 tests, implying a large and positive return on investment in all use cases-even assuming a very low value for loss of life. That is, all five use cases pay for themselves many times over. When prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 is high, the most cost-effective uses of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics seem to be clinical triage of patients, at-risk worker screening, and population surveillance. Test-trace-isolate programs and border screening are alsoworthwhile, although they are more resource intensive per death averted if done comprehensively. These latter two interventions become relativelymore cost effective when prevalence is low, and can stop the virus from entering a community completely. While governments should seekwidespread deployment of tests in all five use cases, prioritizing them in this way is likely to maximize the cost-effectiveness of their use. As morecontagious strains emerge, each use case will become more valuable than ever. 2021-02-19T22:50:05Z 2021-02-19T22:50:05Z 2021-02-23 Brief http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/426741613767908998/Five-Ways-that-COVID-19-Diagnostics-Can-Save-Lives-Prioritizing-Uses-of-Tests-to-Maximize-Cost-Effectiveness http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35150 English Research and Policy Brief;No. 43 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
VIRUS TESTING
COST-EFFECTIVENESS
CLINICAL TRIAGE
WORKER SCREENING
POPULATION SURVEILLANCE
TEST-TRACE-ISOLATE
BORDERING SCREENING
spellingShingle CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
VIRUS TESTING
COST-EFFECTIVENESS
CLINICAL TRIAGE
WORKER SCREENING
POPULATION SURVEILLANCE
TEST-TRACE-ISOLATE
BORDERING SCREENING
Reed, Tristan
Waites, William
Manheim, David
de Walque, Damien
Vallini, Chiara
Gatti, Roberta
Hallett, Timothy B.
Five Ways that COVID-19 Diagnostics Can Save Lives : Prioritizing Uses of Tests to Maximize Cost-Effectiveness
relation Research and Policy Brief;No. 43
description Supplies of diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus), are still limited in many countries, and there is uncertainty about how to allocate the scarce supply across alternative types of testing (use cases). This Research & Policy Brief quantifies the cost-effectiveness of five alternative diagnostic use cases in terms of tests required per death averted. Across use cases, a single death can be averted by administering 940 to 8,838 tests, implying a large and positive return on investment in all use cases-even assuming a very low value for loss of life. That is, all five use cases pay for themselves many times over. When prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 is high, the most cost-effective uses of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics seem to be clinical triage of patients, at-risk worker screening, and population surveillance. Test-trace-isolate programs and border screening are alsoworthwhile, although they are more resource intensive per death averted if done comprehensively. These latter two interventions become relativelymore cost effective when prevalence is low, and can stop the virus from entering a community completely. While governments should seekwidespread deployment of tests in all five use cases, prioritizing them in this way is likely to maximize the cost-effectiveness of their use. As morecontagious strains emerge, each use case will become more valuable than ever.
format Brief
author Reed, Tristan
Waites, William
Manheim, David
de Walque, Damien
Vallini, Chiara
Gatti, Roberta
Hallett, Timothy B.
author_facet Reed, Tristan
Waites, William
Manheim, David
de Walque, Damien
Vallini, Chiara
Gatti, Roberta
Hallett, Timothy B.
author_sort Reed, Tristan
title Five Ways that COVID-19 Diagnostics Can Save Lives : Prioritizing Uses of Tests to Maximize Cost-Effectiveness
title_short Five Ways that COVID-19 Diagnostics Can Save Lives : Prioritizing Uses of Tests to Maximize Cost-Effectiveness
title_full Five Ways that COVID-19 Diagnostics Can Save Lives : Prioritizing Uses of Tests to Maximize Cost-Effectiveness
title_fullStr Five Ways that COVID-19 Diagnostics Can Save Lives : Prioritizing Uses of Tests to Maximize Cost-Effectiveness
title_full_unstemmed Five Ways that COVID-19 Diagnostics Can Save Lives : Prioritizing Uses of Tests to Maximize Cost-Effectiveness
title_sort five ways that covid-19 diagnostics can save lives : prioritizing uses of tests to maximize cost-effectiveness
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/426741613767908998/Five-Ways-that-COVID-19-Diagnostics-Can-Save-Lives-Prioritizing-Uses-of-Tests-to-Maximize-Cost-Effectiveness
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35150
_version_ 1764482430642683904

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