Optimal control and cost-effectiveness analyses of a malaria model

In this work, a new mathematical model that incorporates vaccination, treatment and use of sterile-insect technology (SIT) to control the spread of malaria is formulated. The model is shown to be well-posed mathematically and epidemiologically. Optimal control analysis is performed on the model to obtain the number of susceptible humans that will be vaccinated, the number of infected humans that will be treated, and the number of SIT mosquitoes that will be interacting with females in the wild for optimal control of the disease. The results show that combining vaccination, treatment and use of SIT has a greater controlling effect than when any two of the three control methods are combined. However, cost-effectiveness analysis shows that combining treatment and vaccination is more cost-effective, and hence should be adopted.