Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jan 12;3(1):e000347.
doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000347. eCollection 2018.

Economic burden of neonatal sepsis in sub-Saharan Africa

Sylvia L Ranjeva  1   2 , Benjamin C Warf  3   4 , Steven J Schiff  2   5
Affiliations

Economic burden of neonatal sepsis in sub-Saharan Africa

Sylvia L Ranjeva et al. BMJ Glob Health. .

Abstract

Background and significance: The third Sustainable Development Goal for child health, which aims to end preventable deaths of newborns and children less than 5 years of age by 2030, cannot be met without substantial reduction of infection-specific neonatal mortality in the developing world. Neonatal infections are estimated to account for 26% of annual neonatal deaths, with mortality rates highest in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Reliable and comprehensive estimates of the incidence and aetiology surrounding neonatal sepsis in SSA remain incompletely available. We estimate the economic burden of neonatal sepsis in SSA.

Methods: Data available through global health agencies and in the medical literature were used to determine population demographics in SSA, as well as to determine the incidence, disease burden, mortality and resulting disabilities associated with neonatal sepsis. The disability-adjusted life years (DALY) associated with successful treatment or prevention of neonatal sepsis in SSA for 1 year were calculated. The value of a statistical life (VSL) methodology was estimated to evaluate the economic burden of untreated neonatal sepsis in SSA.

Results: We conservatively estimate that 5.29-8.73 million DALYs are lost annually in SSA due to neonatal sepsis. Corresponding VSL estimates predict an annual economic burden ranging from $10 billion to $469 billion.

Conclusions: Our results highlight and quantify the scope of the public health and economic burden posed by neonatal sepsis in SSA. We quantify the substantial potential impact of more successful treatment and prevention strategies, and we highlight the need for greater investment in strategies to characterise, diagnose, prevent and manage neonatal sepsis and its long-term sequelae in SSA.

Keywords: africa; economic; global burden of disease; neonatal sepsis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of outcomes associated with neonatal sepsis in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) used in the calculation of disability-adjusted life years (DALY). The incidence of conditions secondary to neonatal sepsis was calculated in relation to the total annual live births in SSA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Liu L, Oza S, Hogan D, et al. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality in 2000-13, with projections to inform post-2015 priorities: an updated systematic analysis. Lancet 2015;385:430–40. 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61698-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lawn JE, Cousens S, Zupan J, et al. 4 million neonatal deaths: when? where? why? The Lancet 2005;365:891–900. 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)71048-5 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vergnano S, Sharland M, Kazembe P, et al. Neonatal sepsis: an international perspective. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2005;90:F220–f224. 10.1136/adc.2002.022863 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. UNICEF. The state of the world’s children 2009: maternal and newborn health. New York: Unicef, 2008.
    1. Qazi SA, Stoll BJ. Neonatal sepsis: a major global public health challenge. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2009;28:S1–S2. 10.1097/INF.0b013e31819587a9 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources