Economic costs of seeking malaria care to households in the Kassena-Nankana district of Northern Ghana

Abstract

Although, malaria is a major problem in Ghana, as III many Sub-Saharan Africa countries, there has been little research on its economlC impact, particularly at the household level. National statistics only show that malaria accounted for more deaths, more cases and more potential days of life lost than other cause, however little was said about the costs to households. The aim of the study was to estimate the economic costs (direct and indirect) of seeking malaria care to households and in doing this, the study used data collected from a randomly sampled 423 households in K-N district. Malaria was ascertained not by parasitological test but through self-reporting based on symptoms described by respondents using a one-month recall period. The estimation of direct cost involved the out-of-pocket expenditure on special foods, drugs, transportation, diagnostic and consultation and all other related costs (e.g. inpatient cost, toiletry cost, etc.). Indirect cost was estimated based on the number of days forgone and waiting time incurred due to malaria episode or caretaking and daily wage rate. The estimated costs were divided between direct and indirect costs, and examined in terms of location and case severity. Total direct cost per case in urban area was ¢6,701 ($1.79) compared to ¢7,822 ($2.09) in rural area. With regards to severity, direct cost per severe malaria was ¢11,182 ($2.98) compared to ¢5,317 ($1.42) of mild malaria. In the case of indirect cost and with regards to days lost, the average duration of severe malaria was 5.3 days, which was significantly higher when compared to 2.3 days of mild malaria. Estimated indirect cost per case in urban area was ¢20,804 ($5.55) compared to ¢15,842 ($4.22) in rural area. In terms of severity, 55% of the days lost were due to severe malaria and women in general lost more days and often incurred higher losses in potential earnings than men.