[The cost of a campaign against malaria. General considerations]

Malaria is yet one of the major tropical problems and the technical evolution of the malaria campaigns since 90 years is a witness of its complexity. The cost of a programme against malaria, including house spraying, case finding with chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis for pregnant women, must allow a long-term (10 years) mobilization of resources. In Mayotte island (Comoro archipelago), the cost of the malaria campaign was, in 1987, about 6 US $ by inhabitant. Without man power cost, the house spraying needed 3 US $ by inhabitant, 0.2 US $ for Entomology and Parasitology Laboratories, 0.1 US $ for chemoprophylaxis, case finding and treatment. Apart from the frequency of house spraying which depends on epidemiological features (whole year or seasonal transmission), the integration of activities looks to be the major argument for the optimization of this cost.