title: Cost containment in a school deworming programme targeting over 2.7 million children in Vietnam.
abstract: Vietnam is one of the countries in the world most affected by soil-transmitted helminthiases. Large areas of the country, such as the Northern Uplands and the North and Central Coast, are reported as having infection rates of 75-85% for Ascaris lumbricoides, 38-40% for Trichuris trichiura and 27-28% for hookworm infections. Periodical deworming of schoolchildren is therefore strongly recommended. Managers of the Helminth Control Programme decided to apply a number of measures to improve cost efficiency in order to deworm as many schoolchildren as possible with the limited financial resources available. This low-cost intervention targeted over 2.7 million schoolchildren. Coverage was estimated at over 95% and the cost for each treated child was US$ 0.03, which represents a saving of approximately 50% of costs presently reported in the literature. This article describes the measures applied that resulted in cost containment but maintained high treatment coverage.
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, 63 Tran Hung Dao, Hanoi, Vietnam. montresora@vtn.wpro.who.int
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montresor
authors.forename: Dai Tran
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.forename: Tuan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Le Anh
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ehrhardt
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mondadori
authors.forename: Thach Dang
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Thi
authors.forename: Thuan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Le Khanh
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Albonico
authors.forename: Kevin L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Palmer
mesh_terms: D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D003363:Cost Control; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012572:School Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D012987:Soil / Q000469:parasitology; D014744:Vietnam
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D012987:Soil