In 2003, a study published in The Lancet (Lancet 2003; 362: 65-71), estimated that the lives of 6 million children could be saved each year if 23 proven interventions** were universally available in the 42 countries that had 90% of child deaths in 2000. In the latest study, Robert Black (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Maryland, USA) and colleagues, assessed the cost of delivering these interventions at universal coverage by calculating the sum of unit costs for drugs and materials, delivery costs, and programme management and support cost, including supervision. They found an additional US$5.1 billion in new resources is needed annually. Although the figure does not include the cost of scaling-up health systems to universal coverage, which will require extra outside donations, the findings suggest that the 42 countries in the analysis will be able to sustain these achievements once they are attained. Without the extra investment of US$5.1 billion to save the lives of 6 million children the Millennium Development Goal for child survival--where nations pledged to ensure reduction of two-thirds in child mortality between 1990 and 2015--will not be met, state the authors.
Jennifer Bryce, the lead author of the study, concludes: "$5 billion is about 6% of expenditures for tobacco products in the USA for 2003. For public-health decision makers, the $5 billion needed to save 6 million child lives annually might be compared with the estimates of $12-20 billion now committed annually to the fight against HIV/AIDS. These examples suggest that $5 billion is a
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Contact: Joe Santangelo
j.santangelo@elsevier.com
1-212-633-3810
Lancet
23-Jun-2005