| Abstract: | Ideally, in devising and assessing policies to control disease,the rules and reasoning of economics should be combined withcomprehensive epidemiological information to arrive at the bestdecisions. Simple economic concepts can be of great practicalassistance to policymakers in disease control. This articledescribes the economic principles to be applied and the kindof information needed to make informed choices about the optionsfor controlling malaria. In this context, the article surveysthe research on the costs that malaria imposes on people andeconomies, discusses how to assess the costs and effects ofinterventions used to combat the problem, and identifies theconceptual difficulties and gaps in information that must bebridged before the marriage of the two disciplines can be effectivelyconsummated. |
