Costs of vitamin A supplementation: the opportunity for integration with immunization in Ghana

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Abstract
Health service information intended for the planning and/or monitoring of district health programmes should be up to date, precise and obtained by judicious use of available resources. Employing a rapid assessment type of design, this study quickly and inexpensively investigated the cost implications of integrating vitamin A supplementation with immunization. It also assessed its potential for achieving adequate supplementation coverage. The study was conducted in the Bolgatanga-Frafra district of northern Ghana in 1991. The average health service cost per child for full immunization plus vitamin A supplementation was US$6.47. The additional cost of providing vitamin A to a fully immunized child in Bolgatanga-Frafra district, using a mobile clinic approach that provided integrated curative and preventive maternal and child health care, including immunization, was US$0.02. There was no additional monetary cost to the patient and an average additional indirect cost to the patient of two minutes in waiting The study concluded that the pattern of utilization of immunization services in the district presented an opportunity for achieving significant vitamin A supplementation coverage.

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