GARC meets project partners at the WHO office in Tanzania

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has commissioned GARC to initiate an assessment of health economic data related to the pilot rabies elimination projects the Foundation is funding in Tanzania, South Africa and the Philippines. The analysis seeks to answer two crucial questions by comparing data across all three project sites:

-What is the cost of vaccinating a dog against rabies?
-What does it cost to avert a human rabies death?

Simple questions? Perhaps, but until they are asked, we cannot take account of the full cost of the public health and veterinary systems working behind the scenes. Costs begin when a dog is, or is not, vaccinated against rabies, and when a patient seeks post exposure prophylaxis after a dog bite. The costs continue to mount until a patient is fully treated or until a dog is fully protected against rabies, and any deaths because of omissions in the process also have economic implications.

From the 18th to the 21st of February, Drs. Rupprecht and Knopf (GARC) met officials from the Tanzanian Ministry of Health, Ministry of Livestock Development and Fisheries and the WHO country office. They discussed a framework for collecting health economic data at the Tanzanian project site.

There was also a historical perspective to the meeting. This was the first time GARC representatives had officially visited the WHO country office in Tanzania. They were kindly assisted by Dr. Lembo from the University of Glasgow.