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. 2016 Jan;208 Suppl 56(Suppl 56):s71-8.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.153866. Epub 2015 Oct 7.

Estimating the cost of implementing district mental healthcare plans in five low- and middle-income countries: the PRIME study

Dan Chisholm  1 , Soumitra Burman-Roy  2 , Abebaw Fekadu  2 , Tasneem Kathree  2 , Dorothy Kizza  2 , Nagendra P Luitel  2 , Inge Petersen  2 , Rahul Shidhaye  2 , Mary De Silva  2 , Crick Lund  2
Affiliations

Estimating the cost of implementing district mental healthcare plans in five low- and middle-income countries: the PRIME study

Dan Chisholm et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2016 Jan.

Abstract

Background: An essential element of mental health service scale up relates to an assessment of resource requirements and cost implications.

Aims: To assess the expected resource needs of scaling up services in five districts in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.

Method: The resource quantities associated with each site's specified care package were identified and subsequently costed, both at current and target levels of coverage.

Results: The cost of the care package at target coverage ranged from US$0.21 to 0.56 per head of population in four of the districts (in the higher-income context of South Africa, it was US$1.86). In all districts, the additional amount needed each year to reach target coverage goals after 10 years was below $0.10 per head of population.

Conclusions: Estimation of resource needs and costs for district-level mental health services provides relevant information concerning the financial feasibility of locally developed plans for successful scale up.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interest

D.C. is a staff member of the World Health Organization. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication and they do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy or views of the World Health Organization.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Cost of mental healthcare plan package, at current and target coverage (US$ per capita).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Incremental investment needed per year to reach target coverage levels over different scale-up periods (US$ per capita).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Distribution of costs in non-specialised healthcare settings.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Sensitivity analysis: influence of hospital-based service use and programme costs on baseline results.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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