Costs of diarrhoeal diseases and the savings from a control programme in Cebu, Philippines

A control of diarrhoeal diseases programme was set up in Cebu Province, Philippines, in 1986. In order to compare the reduction in treatment costs before and after implementation of the programme, and the potential savings to be made from its continuation, we collected data for 1985 and 1989 in 10 health facilities in Cebu. Since the programme's introduction, household expenditures on drugs for diarrhoea cases have decreased by a total of 1.03 million Philippine pesos (P) (US$ 41,200). At the health centre level, the costs of treating diarrhoea cases were close to optimum, but in the district hospitals treatment of inpatients with diarrhoea changed little between 1985 and 1989. This arose because such hospitals were compensated by the central authorities for inpatients but not for outpatients. Potential savings of around US$ 60,000 could have been made, however, had the district hospitals adopted the practices used in the main referral hospital.