TREATMENT OF ONLY IDENTIFIED CASES OR IND ISCRIMINATE TREATMENT OF A POPULATION AT RISK - A COST-ANALYSIS METHOD APPLICABLE AT THE DISTRICTLEVEL OF HEALTH-CARE

With severely limited resources, it is necessary for the health servic es to select the most efficient strategy for managing health problems in a population at risk. A simple method for cost analysis, which can be used at the district health care level, is proposed so that one can choose between selective treatment on the basis of case identificatio n, or indiscriminate treatment of the entire population at risk. The t reatment of anaemia at the antenatal clinic in health centres in south -western Chad was studied and is presented as an example. The conditio ns for use and the limitations of the method are discussed.