Costs of services and funding gap of the Bangladesh National Tuberculosis Control Programme 2016–2022: An ingredient based approach

Background Bangladesh National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Programme (NTP) has deployed improved diagnostic technologies which may drive up the programme costs. We aimed to estimate the supply-side costs associated with the delivery of the NTP and the funding gap between the cost of implementation and available funding for the Bangladesh NTP.

Methods An ingredient-based costing approach was applied using WHO’s OneHealth Tool software. We considered 2016, as the base year and projected cost estimates up to 2022 using information on NTP planned activities. Data were collected through consultative meetings with experts and officials/managers, review of documents and databases, and visits to five purposively selected TB healthcare facilities. The estimated costs were compared with the funds allocated to the NTP between 2018 and 2022 to estimate the funding gap.

Findings The estimated total cost of NTP was US$ 49.22 million in 2016, which would increase to US$ 146.93 million in 2022. Human resources (41.1%) and medicines and investigations/ supplies (38.0%) were the major two cost components. Unit costs were highest for treating extensively drug-resistant TB at US$ 7,422.4 in 2016. Between 2018–2022, NTP would incur US$ 536.8 million, which is US$ 235.18 million higher than the current allocation for NTP.

Conclusion Our results indicated a funding gap associated with the NTP in each of the years between 2018–2022. Policy planners should advocate for additional funding to ensure smooth delivery of TB services in the upcoming years. The cost estimates of TB services can also be used for planning and budgeting for delivering TB services in similar country contexts.