Table 2.

Screening program cost in US$^a

Cost item	HIV patients			Infectious diseases patients			Dermatological patients
	Staff cost per patient	Number of patients	Total cost	Staff cost per patient	Number of patients	Total cost	Staff cost per patient	Number of patients	Total cost
Swabs (entry)	2.74b	913	2504	2.74b	520	1426	2.74b	824	2260
Cleaning (entry)	2.70c	97	262	2.70c	14	38	2.70c	162	438
Collating (entry)	0.55d	913	501	0.55d	520	285	0.55d	824	452
Swabs (discharge)	2.74b	679	1862	2.74b	464	1272	2.74b	624	1711
Collating (discharge)	0.55d	679	371	0.55d	464	253	0.55d	624	341
Hand rub Bottles		680e	5304		104e	808		1204e	9390
Tariff paid by patient	25	1592	39,736	25	984	24,561	25	1448	36,142
Total (entry and discharge)	50,540			28,643			50,733

^aS$ was converted to US$ based on exchange rate of 0.78

^bFifteen minutes of staff time is needed to take swabs including labelling/preparation for one patient with a monthly salary of S$2250 [59]

^cThirty minutes of staff time is needed to clean MRSA positive room for one patient with a monthly salary of S$950 [59]

^dThirty minutes of staff time is needed to collate data for ten patients with a monthly salary of S$2250 [59]

^eA bottle cost S$10 (~ US$7.8)