Comparative Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Awareness and Treatment Strategies for Controlling Mpox in Diverse Epidemiological Settings

This study develops and analyzes an optimal control model for the transmission dynamics of Mpox across four countries (Nigeria, Spain, Italy, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)) with a focus on evaluating the cost-effectiveness of awareness, effective treatment, and a combination of both control strategies. Using a compartmental model and Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle, we implement numerical simulations to assess the efficiency indices (EI), total cost (TC), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) for awareness control only, treatment only, and combined control interventions. Results reveal that while combined strategies achieve higher infection prevention, effective treatment only strategies exhibit lower ICER values, indicating greater cost-effectiveness in all countries. These findings highlight that while integrated approaches are epidemiologically impactful, targeted effective treatment interven- tions may offer optimal public health value, particularly in settings with limited healthcare resources like DRC and Nigeria.