[Estimated cost of managing invasive cervical cancer in Tunisia]

In Tunisia, cervical cancer incidence is about 4.8 per 100,000, but the diagnosis is often made too late, with 5-year survival rates of 35% or less. Given the budgetary constraints facing the health system, and taking into account the low incidence of cervical cancer in Tunisia, the comparative cost effectiveness analysis of screening programs must be strongly considered by policy and decision-makers. A retrospective study to estimate the average direct cost of managing cervical cancer during the first year after diagnosis was conducted among patients with cervical cancer diagnosed in 2003 at the Salah Azaiez Cancer Institute in Tunis. The study included 64 patients with cervical cancer. The direct medical cost is equal to the sum of the respective consumable costs related to hospitalization, ambulatory care, diagnostic tests, surgical procedures, chemotherapy and radiation. Regarding the in-patient hospital stay, the overall cost of a hospital day is a macro-cost including the accommodation expenses themselves, as well as staff costs and non-specific drugs. An extrapolation of the cost of care has been done at the national level; the method used consisted in multiplying the mean of the direct medical costs according to the FIGO stage by the number of incident cases at national level, for the corresponding stage. The distribution by FIGO stage was derived from the Cancer Registry of the northern region of the country. This extrapolation is an estimate, It assumes that the costs of care are similar in other health facilities, and secondly, it assumes that the distribution by FIGO stage according to that of the northern region's registrar is approximately the same at the national level. The results showed that the direct medical care cost of cervical cancer ranged from 777 to 7458 DT (431 to 4143 euro) with an average of 3180 +/- 1390 DT (1766 +/- 772 euro). The national cost was estimated at 877,680 DT (486,847 euro). Although, the cost of care for cervical cancer in Tunisia does not represent a considerable burden for health system, cervical cancer screening remains the best intervention to improve cancer survival rates.