A social and economic analysis of schistosomiasis: a conceptual framework and a research strategy

This paper describes a broad conceptual framework for analyzing the social and economic aspects of schistosomiasis. In this framework, the household, in an attempt to improve its welfare, is assumed to make a variety of simultaneous decision based on a set of opportunities and constraints defined by its household resources and community environment, which are in turn influenced by public policies and programmes. The analytical gains from utilizing this broad framework in the study of the social and economic consequences of schistosomiasis, the transmission of the disease, and the demand for treatment from the perspective of more effective control of the disease are briefly noted. The paper also describes the research strategy being adopted by an ongoing research in the Philippines with attention to the intensive data requirements that the broad framework calls for.