Developing Eradication Investment Cases for Onchocerciasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, and Human African Trypanosomiasis: Rationale and Main Challenges

An EIC is essentially an economic composite assessment in the broader meaning of economics, addressing thus all three fundamental economics questions. An EIC in fact answers: 1) the ‘‘What’’ question, that compares remaining in control mode versus moving toward elimination and then eradication; 2) the ‘‘How’’ question,’’ assessing which intervention/ s or strategy/ies should be adopted by which stakeholder, how much resources would be required, and how they could be mobilized (priority setting and resources allocation, funding); and 3) the ‘‘for Whom’’ question, assessing who would benefit from control or elimination in terms of health and economic gains, and the likely impact on equity and fairness. This article presents the rationale, the approaches to be pursued, and the main methodological challenges of developing EICs for three neglected tropical diseases considered as candidates for elimination and eradication [4]: onchocerciasis (river blindness), lymphatic filariasis (LF) (elephantiasis), and human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) (sleeping sickness)