Cost-of-illness methodologies for water-related diseases in developing countries

New methodologies are being developed for water supply and sanitation system project planning in order to increase the effective utilization of allocated funds. This technical report outlines the Cost of Illness (COI) methodology in which health benefits are treated as a direct-cost savings in medical care, and an indirect-cost savings in increased productivity of a healthy population. The proposed COI analysis begins with the determination of the scope of the project, justifiable time period for the economic impact, and the type of result needed for the project. After the project is so defined, the diseases to be included in the study are discussed in terms of the cost of medical care, type of data required and frequency of data acquisition. The results of the COI analysis can be used as a tool in the policy making process. Appendix A contains a general review of health benefit studies in developing countries, and Appendix B contains samples of data acquisition questionnaires.