[En masse testing is not sensible and economical care]

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2021 Oct 11:165:D6299.
[Article in Dutch]

Abstract

The current policy is to test en masse for access on the basis that we then have a safe system to prevent the possible spread of an epidemic virus. The question is whether this reasoning is correct. To answer this, we have developed two scenarios. One with a low prevalence, as applied in the Fieldlab experiments and the other with a fictitious high prevalence of 10%. Both examples show that there is both collateral damage in the number of people who are wrongly denied access and in the number of people who are wrongly admitted, which means that it does not provide the security we hope for. The cost of EUR 60 million per month is as much as we spend per year on the national breast cancer screening programme. This expensive testing policy does not offer 100% safety and is not fair. It is not an effective policy, either at an individual or a population level.

MeSH terms

  • Cost-Benefit Analysis
  • Humans
  • Prevalence*