Cost-effectiveness of blood safety measures in the Netherlands

Additional blood screening tests such as Triplex NAT and HTLV-I/II antibody testing were not uniformly added in Europe to the classical serological testing for HBV, HIV and HCV. These additional tests were evaluated by cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) in the framework of a grant from the Dutch Medical Research Council. Cost-effectiveness was analyzed of: Triplex NAT for HBV, HCV and HIV; anti-HTLV-I/II tests and HAV NAT. Disease progression of the infections was described in new Markov models. In the Netherlands, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of Triplex NAT in mini pools of 6 donations is € 5,199,220 per QALY and € 4,647,062 per QALY for individual donation NAT. ICER of testing all donations for anti-HTLV-I/II is € 45,182,666 per QALY and € 2,234,041 per QALY for testing only new donors. The ICER of HAV NAT is € 18,562,483 per QALY.