# Cost-effectiveness of running a paediatric oncology unit in Ethiopia

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-kiros-paediatric-oncology-cea-ethiopia-bmjopen-2023/  
OnCo record `paper-kiros-paediatric-oncology-cea-ethiopia-bmjopen-2023` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Running the paediatric oncology unit at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital cost about 361 US dollars per disability-adjusted life year averted, which the authors judged cost-effective, and they recommended reassessing the low and medium priority that Ethiopia's essential package gives childhood cancer treatment.

## Summary

A decision-tree model compared running a paediatric oncology unit with no paediatric oncology care, from a healthcare provider perspective, using 2018 to 2019 costing of the unit at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital and outcome data from similar settings, over a lifetime horizon with 3% discounting. The willingness-to-pay threshold used was 50% of Ethiopia's GDP per capita, 477 US dollars in 2019.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Journal: BMJ Open
- Year: 2023
- DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-068210
- Authors: Kiros M, Memirie ST, Tolla MTT, et al.
- Findings: Incremental cost per child treated was 876 US dollars and 2.4 disability-adjusted life years were averted per child.; The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was 361 US dollars per DALY averted.; The unit was cost-effective in 90% of 100,000 Monte Carlo iterations at the 477 US dollar threshold.
- What it means: Evidence written to inform Ethiopia's next revision of its essential health services package, which ranks childhood cancer treatment at low and medium priority.
- Caveats: Health outcomes were taken from other studies in similar settings, not measured at the unit.; The threshold is the authors' choice; OnCo found no official Ethiopian cost-effectiveness threshold.

## Sources

- BMJ Open 2023: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-068210
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36918241/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Childhood cancers (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/childhood-cancers/)
- institutions: [Federal Ministry of Health, Ethiopia](https://onco.cc/institutions/ethiopia-ministry-of-health/), [Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa University](https://onco.cc/institutions/tikur-anbessa-hospital/)

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