Addressing the gap in health economics data to support national cancer control plans in low‐ and middle‐income countries: The Childhood Cancers Budgeting Rapidly to Incorporate Disadvantaged Groups for Equity (CC‐BRIDGE) tool.

Background: National cancer control plans (NCCPs) are complex public health programs that incorporate evidence‐based cancer control strategies to improve health outcomes for all individuals in a country. Given the scope of NCCPs, small and vulnerable populations, such as patients with childhood cancer, are often missed. To support planning efforts, a rapid, modifiable tool was developed that estimates a context‐specific national budget to fund pediatric cancer programs, provides 5‐year scale‐up scenarios, and calculates annual cost‐effectiveness. Methods: The tool was codeveloped by teams of policymakers, clinicians, and public health advocates in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Uganda. The 11 costing categories included real‐world data, modeled data, and data from the literature. A base‐case and three 5‐year scale‐up scenarios were created using modifiable inputs. The cost‐effectiveness of the disability‐adjusted life years averted was calculated. Results were compared with each country's projected gross domestic product per capita for 2022 through 2026. Results: The number of patients/total budget for year 1 was 250/$1,109,366 for Zimbabwe, 280/$1,207,555 for Zambia, and 1000/$2,277,397 for Uganda. In year 5, these values were assumed to increase to 398/$5,545,445, 446/$4,926,150, and 1594/$9,059,331, respectively. Base‐case cost per disability‐adjusted life year averted/ratio to gross domestic product per capita for year 1, assuming 20% survival, was: $807/0.5 for Zimbabwe, $785/0.7 for Zambia, and $420/0.5 for Uganda. Conclusions: This costing tool provided a framework to forecast a budget for childhood‐specific cancer services. By leveraging minimal primary data collection with existing secondary data, local teams obtained rapid results, ensuring that childhood cancer budgeting is not neglected once in every 5 to 6 years of planning processes. The Childhood Cancers Budgeting Rapidly to Incorporate Disadvantaged Groups for Equity (CC‐BRIDGE) tool fills a current gap by providing a feasible, simplified toolkit for policymakers and childhood cancer stakeholders to calculate the costs required to develop a multiyear childhood cancer–specific budget, within existing National Cancer Control Plan (NCCP) activities. As governments continue to plan NCCPs, the CC‐BRIDGE tool can ensure that budgeting for vulnerable populations, such as childhood cancer patients, is not neglected once in every 5 to 6 years of planning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]