TY - JOUR T1 - Is an integrated model of school eye health delivery more cost-effective than a vertical model? An implementation research in Zanzibar JF - BMJ Open Ophthalmology JO - BMJ Open Ophth DO - 10.1136/bmjophth-2020-000561 VL - 6 IS - 1 SP - e000561 AU - Ving Fai Chan AU - Fatma Omar AU - Elodie Yard AU - Eden Mashayo AU - Damaris Mulewa AU - Lesley Drake AU - Mary Wepo AU - Hasan Minto Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://bmjophth.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000561.abstract N2 - Objective To review and compare the cost-effectiveness of the integrated model (IM) and vertical model (VM) of school eye health programme in Zanzibar.Methods and analysis This 6-month implementation research was conducted in four districts in Zanzibar. Nine and ten schools were recruited into the IM and VM, respectively. In the VM, teachers conducted eye health screening and education only while these eye health components were added to the existing school feeding programme (IM). The number of children aged 6–13 years old screened and identified was collected monthly. A review of project account records was conducted with 19 key informants. The actual costs were calculated for each cost categories, and costs per child screened and cost per child identified were compared between the two models.Results Screening coverage was 96% and 90% in the IM and VM with 297 children (69.5%) from the IM and 130 children (30.5%) from VM failed eye health screening. The 6-month eye health screening cost for VM and IM was US$6 728 and US$7 355. The cost per child screened for IM and VM was US$1.23 and US$1.31, and the cost per child identified was US$24.76 and US$51.75, respectively.Conclusion Both models achieved high coverage of eye health screening with the IM being a more cost-effective school eye health delivery screening compared with VM with great opportunities for cost savings. ER -