Cost and results of information systems for health and poverty indicators in the United Republic of Tanzania.

Objective: To examine the costs of complementary information generation activities in a resource-constrained setting and compare the costs and outputs of information subsystems that generate the statistics on poverty, health and survival required for monitoring, evaluation and reporting on health programmes in the United Republic of Tanzania.

Methods: Nine systems used by four government agencies or ministries were assessed. Costs were calculated from budgets and expenditure data made available by information system managers.