OBJECTIVES : Six out of seven of priority zoonotic diseases have been reported in the West Nile region of Uganda, a region hosting a large number of refugees. To strengthen preparedness for outbreaks, a preparedness pilot project was conceived with an implementing partner institution providing technical and logistics support to districts for surveillance, outbreak investigation, sample transportation and infection prevention and control in the human and animal health sectors. We evaluated the annual cost of this pilot program in 3 districts in Uganda’s West Nile region.

METHODS : An interactive, customizable model in Excel, adapted from SurvCost was built to systematically generate cost estimates over a five-year time horizon. Institutional financial data was analysed to determine annual cost categories according to resource requirements. Resources included; time for all personnel involved directly or indirectly (e.g. administrative staff), office supplies and capital costs (depreciated at 25% using straight line method), facilities costs, laboratory supplies and transportation costs. Annual adjustment for inflation was based on the International Monetary Fund projected inflationary rate for Uganda. Total values are presented in US dollars at a rate of (1 USD=3,450 Ugx)

RESULTS : Introducing one health disease surveillance has been associated with increased capacity to timely detect and confirm zoonotic disease outbreaks in the West Nile region. With capacity of over 350 health workers built, indicator and event based reporting improved from 71.9% in March 2018 to 95.6% by December 2018.

The annual cost of implementing a one health surveillance program is approximately $ 487,986. The main cost drivers are personnel at 71.8%, transport costs at 14.1% and capital costs at 11.9%. Over a 5-year duration, the estimated cost of implementing a disease surveillance program in Uganda’s west Nile region is approximately $ 2,439,936.

CONCLUSIONS : This model can inform economic evaluations and budgetary decisions for districts planning similar interventions.