A Cost Analysis of Training Expenses versus the Value of Medical Care Provided during West Africa Training Cruise 2004: Senegal

摘要

A medical civic assistance program (MEDCAP) visit was conducted by naval reservists in eight villages in Senegal, West Africa. More than 6,000 patients were treated by MEDCAP team members. Medical and deatal care, eyeglasses, vitamins, medications, educational material, and mass casualty training were provided. Major challenges confronting the mission were to provide care in makeshift clinics in remote villages in an arduous sub-Saharan climate, where more than one-half of the population lacks adequate public health funding to address basic medical and dental needs. To estimate the economic costs and benefits of the mission, as a guide to future planning, we calculated the total costs of the mission and its economic benefits. Total costs were found to be