Cost- Effectiveness of Mammography Screening Program in a Resource-Limited Post-Soviet Country of Kazakhstan

OBJECTIVES: To conduct cost effectiveness and benefit-cost analyses of the organized mammography-screening program in the Republic of Kazakhstan comparing women who developed breast cancer in screened and unscreened scenario. METHODS: 389,352 screened women were included in the study. Among these, 895 women were further diagnosed with breast cancer. Outcomes measures include life years saved, quality-adjusted life years, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, and value of statistical life year. Sensitivity analyses were performed to assess uncertainty. RESULTS: Compared to no screening scenario, an organized mammography yielded an additional 1,253 life years and 790 quality-adjusted life years in 2016. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was equal to 3,157 USD per one QALY saved, which is two times less than the GDP per capita in Kazakhstan in 2016. Sensitivity analysis showed that the mammography remains cost-effective in the majority of the scenarios. CONCLUSION: Mammography screening in Kazakhstan was found to be highly cost-effective, associated with treatment cost savings, and can be an efficient use of limited resources in Kazakhstan.