Costs of Chagas’ disease screening test in blood donors in two Colombian blood banks, 2015

Nelson José Alvis, Diana Patricia Díaz, Liliana Castillo, Nelson Rafael Alvis, María Isabel Bermúdez, Olga Maritza Berrío, Mauricio Beltrán, Carlos Andrés Castañeda-Orjuela

Transfusion is a mechanism of transmission of Chagas' disease. There are no studies on the costs of the screening test in Colombian blood banks. To estimate the costs of the screening test for Chagas' disease among blood donors in two Colombian blood banks, 2015. We conducted a micro-costing study from the perspective of the health care provider to estimate the cost of Chagas' disease testing in two blood banks, Banco de Sangre de la Cruz Roja, Seccional Bolívar, and Banco de Sangre del Hospital de Yopal, Casanare, taking into account four cost categories: 1) Administrative costs: public services and insurance costs were calculated based on the blood bank area in square meters; 2) capital costs: building and equipment costs that were annualized using a 3% discount rate and a lifespan of 20 years for building and five for equipment; 3) costs of Chagas' disease test materials and reagents adjusted by blood bank production level, and 4) costs of staff in charge of Chagas' disease test processing. The costs of transfusion bagsand immunohematology tests are also reported. The cost of Chagas' disease test in the blood bank of Seccional Bolívar was COP$ 37,804 (USD$ 12), and the blood bag and immunohematology test costs were COP$ 25,941 (USD$ 8.2) and COP$ 6,800 (USD$ 2.2), respectively. In the blood bank of Yopal, Casanare, the costs were COP$ 77,384 (USD$ 24.6), COP$ 30,141 (USD$ 9.6) and COP$ 12,627 (USD$ 4), respectively. Personnel cost accounted for the highest percentage of the total cost for both blood banks (47.5% in Seccional Bolívar, and 55.7% in Yopal, Casanare). Our results are an important input for the planning of services and cost-effectiveness studies for screening tests for Chagas' disease in Colombian blood banks.