Prioritising health problems

Prioritising refers to putting health problems in order of their importance. The factors that you should consider in prioritising are:

• the magnitude of the problem: e.g. how many cases are occurring over what period of time?
• the severity of the problem: how high is the risk of serious illness, disability or death?
• the feasibility of addressing the problem: are the prevention and control measures effective, available and affordable by the community?
• the level of concern of the community and the government about the problem.

Health problems which have a high magnitude and severity, which can be easily solved, and are major concerns of the community and the government, are given the highest priority. After prioritising which disease (or diseases) you will give most urgent attention to, the next step is to develop an action plan.