Cost-effectiveness of a wetting method intervention to reduce cassava cyanide-related cognitive impairment in children

Cassava cyanide-related neurocognitive impairment may persist for years in Central African children who rely on cassava as a dietary staple. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a cassava processing method, the ‘wetting method’, reduced cyanide in cassava, prevented konzo, and proved a cost-effective intervention to improve children’s cognitive development. Scaling up use of the wetting method may help prevent neurocognitive impairment in millions of at-risk children in sub-Saharan Africa. A wetting method for cassava flour can further reduce cyanide exposure and its disease burden among children. The cost-effectiveness of the method in reducing cognitive disability is assessed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.