Table 1

Data sources and estimation methods for cost inputs

Cost inputDetails
Staff salariesSalary data for each team member were informed by the Indonesia civil service scale (see details in online supplemental file 4). In our hypothetical team, grade I civil servant corresponds to assistant level, grade II to data manager, grade III to project manager and grade IV to principal investigator. Each level receives an allowance (that increases with level of seniority) to cover extra benefits such as sick, maternity and annual leave, insurance, service car, etc. Medicine sample collectors are paid on a per diem basis, following STARmeds expenses records. Salaries and per diems, as appropriate, were allocated to the three study phases (study design, fieldwork and analysis) proportionally with the number of calendar days spent in each, based on STARmeds fieldwork operations. For the calculation of economic costs, staff overtime was valued at the same hourly rate as their full-time employed time.
EquipmentThe cost of newly purchased equipment was informed by STARmeds expenditure records. When personal laptops and phones were used by the core team, purchase values of US$1000 and US$100, respectively, were used to compute economic costs, informed by prices of similar specifications to those used in STARmeds available on the e-catalogue website of Indonesia’s National Public Procurement Agency LKPP.29 30 In all cases, a useful life of 5 years and a discount rate of 3% were assumed to annualise equipment cost.
ConsumablesAll costs of consumables were informed by STARmeds expenditure records. COVID-19-related consumables were excluded, for example, rapid diagnostic tests.
TravelThis category includes travel, meals, accommodation and meeting-related costs, for example, training data collectors. In each geographical location from where samples were collected, there was a central coordination hub for which rent, utilities, buildings insurance were charged at market prices. Transport between Jakarta and the provinces, as well as local transport, are also included. All costs are informed by STARmeds expenditure records.
LaboratoryThis category includes the costs of privately contracted Equilab to perform pharmacopeial tests (identification, quantification and uniformity of assay, uniformity of content for samples below 20 mg and dissolution) for 1274 medicine samples. These costs were registered as a whole item, as they were registered in STARmeds expeniture records.
Other direct costsThis category includes operational allowances for sample collectors, the cost of purchasing medicines from outlets at market prices, as well as a wide range of services, for example, barcoding samples, mobile data packages for the field team. All costs are informed by STARmeds expenditure records.
Indirect costsIt was assumed that overheads represent 10% of the sum of salaries, consumables, travel and other direct costs. This assumption results from consultations with STARmeds experts, based on the STARmeds project and Indonesian civil service earnings.
  • STARmeds, Systematic Tracking of At Risk Medicines.