NEW CANADIAN HEALTH-CARE INITIATIVE IN TANZANIA

One of the main conclusions of the World Bank's World Development Repo rt 1993 - Investing in Health was that equitable access to a package o f essential clinical and public health services could significantly re duce the overall burden of disease in low-income countries. The report argued that more rational and effective decisions with regard to the allocation of limited resources could be made on the basis of burden-o f-disease and cost-effectiveness analyses. In collaboration with the C anadian International Development Agency and several other organizatio ns, the International Development Research Centre has developed the Es sential Health Interventions Project to test the feasibility of this a pproach in a few districts in Tanzania. Outcome assessment will focus on improved planning at the district level and on changes to the healt h status of the study population.