Costs of training and maintenance of expert man-power vs costs of drugs. Priorities in the field of helminthic diseases in developing countries

In developing countries, prevention and treatment of parasitic diseases present not only a challenge to the health services but also a test case to the efficiency of health education in general. In these countries, medical schools have started and continue to function on a Western pattern of medical education. This may have well served the provision of hospital-based services on a well-tested scientific and professional tradition. The system is, however, inappropriate when it comes to the provision of preventive care and mass treatment, and to the introduction of adaptational and developmental changes which are constantly needed in developing countries as well on the health service as on the educational side. As a consequence the whole enterprise is in danger of becoming increasingly irrelevant and insufficient. The fact that both health services and medical curricula are at present seriously questioned in developed countries as well, lends an even greater importance to their re-assessment and adaptation in developing countries.