Sustainability of Onchocerciasis Control Program in Benin : a methodological approach

The aim of Onchocerciasis Control Program (OCP) is to eliminate onchocerciasis disease of public health problem and as an obstacle to socioeconomic development; it incumbent on the participating countries to maintain this achievement. The primary purpose of this study is focus on the sustainability of Onchocerciasis control program in Benin. This study has designed a methodological approach to analyze the conditions in which the program can be sustained. Hypothetical data has also been used in the study to test how the models work. The results of the evaluation of the approach using these hypothetical data are not to be taken directly as granted for policy implications. This methodological approach shows us a way to obtain onchocerciasis control demand function and the elasticity of the demand, by using money metric indirect utility function and Cobb-Douglas utility function. The study reveals the utility for rich and poor regarding onchocerciasis control and the factors that influence ability to pay (ownership of property, type of saving, source of income, family size), willingness to pay (level of knowledge about the disease, level of exposure, priority ranking, risk of contracting onchocerciasis, transportation cost) and community involvement (perceived benefits of ivermectin, community leadership, designing the distribution system, availability of credible distributor, integration with local health system). Also this study reveals that, the above factors can shift onchocerciasis control demand curve. The result of such studies will help health planners and policy makers of the government to make a decision regarding the set of price of onchocerciasis treatment by year 2002 using the marginal utility analysis. Further work on empirical study on the model built in this study is also required. In conclusion, this approach though designed with sustainability of onchocerciasis control as the focus could also be used in many other endemic disease control strategies. Though this methodological approach has some limitations, its strength lies in its possible practical uses as an operational tool.