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. 2017 Aug 28;9(1):e1-e6.
doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v9i1.1317.

Economic burden of malaria on rural households in Gwanda district, Zimbabwe

Resign Gunda  1 , Shepherd Shamu, Moses J Chimbari, Samson Mukaratirwa
Affiliations

Economic burden of malaria on rural households in Gwanda district, Zimbabwe

Resign Gunda et al. Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. .

Abstract

Background: Malaria is a serious public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality.

Aim: To estimate the economic burden of malaria in rural households.

Setting: The study was conducted in Gwanda district of Matabeleland South in Zimbabwe. A total of five malarious wards and all their households were selected for the study frame, out of which 80 households were chosen using clinic records.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of secondary data and a cross-sectional household survey were conducted to estimate the household economic burden of malaria. Eighty households from five rural wards were identified from the health facility malaria registers and followed up. A household was eligible for inclusion if there had been at least one reported malaria case during the period of 2013-2015. Interviewer administered questionnaires were used to collect household data on economic costs of malaria.

Results: Our findings showed that households spent an average of $3.22 and $56.60 for managing an uncomplicated and a complicated malaria episode respectively. A household lost an average of eight productive working days per each malaria episode resulting in an average loss of 24% of the monthly household income. An estimated 35%, mostly poorer households suffered catastrophic health expenditures.

Conclusion: Malaria imposes significant economic burdens particularly on the poorer and vulnerable households. Although there are no user fees at rural clinics, households incur other costs to manage a malaria patient. These costs are far worse for complicated cases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Age profile of malaria infected patients from households enrolled.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Distribution of mean household cases of malaria illness by wealth status.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Concentration curve for annual cases of illness by wealth status.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Percentage prevalence of households with catastrophic health expenditures at different thresholds.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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