Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness of Public Health Surveillance Systems in Rwanda Using Panel Data Analysis

Public health surveillance systems play a crucial role in monitoring infectious diseases to prevent outbreaks. Rwanda has established such systems but lacks comprehensive evaluations of their cost-effectiveness. A mixed-method approach was employed, integrating quantitative panel data analyses with qualitative insights from stakeholder interviews. The study utilised a fixed effects model to estimate the impact of surveillance system investments on health outcomes over time. The analysis revealed that an investment ratio of $150 per capita in public health surveillance systems led to a reduction in infectious disease incidence by approximately 20% within two years, with robust standard errors indicating high confidence in these estimates. This study provides empirical evidence on the cost-effectiveness of surveillance investments in Rwanda, offering policymakers clear guidance for resource allocation in future public health initiatives. Based on findings, it is recommended that Rwanda invests a proportional amount of its healthcare budget into surveillance systems to maximise impact on infectious disease control and prevention. Public Health Surveillance, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Panel Data, Infectious Diseases, Rwanda Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.