Fortification of food with vitamin A or zinc, not immunization, was the most cost effective intervention to promote children's health. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Cost effectiveness analysis of strategies for child health in developing countries.
BMJ. 2005 Nov 19 ;331(7526):1177. Epub 2005 Nov 10. PMID: 16282378
Tessa Tan-Torres Edejer
OBJECTIVE: To determine the costs and effectiveness of selected child health interventions-namely, case management of pneumonia, oral rehydration therapy, supplementation or fortification of staple foods with vitamin A or zinc, provision of supplementary food with counselling on nutrition, and immunisation against measles.
DESIGN: Cost effectiveness analysis.
DATA SOURCES: Efficacy data came from published systematic reviews and before and after evaluations of programmes. For resource inputs, quantities came from literature and expert opinion, and prices from the World Health Organization Choosing Interventions that are Cost Effective (WHO-CHOICE) database,
RESULTS: Cost effectiveness ratios clustered in three groups, with fortification with zinc or vitamin A as the most cost effective intervention, and provision of supplementary food and counselling on nutrition as the least cost effective. Between these were oral rehydration therapy, case management of pneumonia, vitamin A or zinc supplementation, and measles immunisation.
CONCLUSIONS: On the grounds of cost effectiveness, micronutrients and measles immunisation should be provided routinely to all children, in addition to oral rehydration therapy and case management of pneumonia for those who are sick. The challenge of malnutrition is not well addressed by existing interventions.