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. 2022 Oct 5;21(1):283.
doi: 10.1186/s12936-022-04303-6.

The economic burden of malaria: a systematic review

Mônica V Andrade  1 , Kenya Noronha  1 , Bernardo P C Diniz  1 , Gilvan Guedes  1 , Lucas R Carvalho  1 , Valéria A Silva  1 , Júlia A Calazans  2 , André S Santos  1 , Daniel N Silva  1 , Marcia C Castro  3
Affiliations

The economic burden of malaria: a systematic review

Mônica V Andrade et al. Malar J. .

Abstract

Background: Quantifying disease costs is critical for policymakers to set priorities, allocate resources, select control and prevention strategies, and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of interventions. Although malaria carries a very large disease burden, the availability of comprehensive and comparable estimates of malaria costs across endemic countries is scarce.

Methods: A literature review to summarize methodologies utilized to estimate malaria treatment costs was conducted to identify gaps in knowledge.

Results: Only 45 publications met the inclusion criteria. They utilize different methods, include distinct cost components, have varied geographical coverage (a country vs a city), include different periods in the analysis, and focus on specific parasite types or population groups (e.g., pregnant women).

Conclusions: Cost estimates currently available are not comparable, hindering broad statements on the costs of malaria, and constraining advocacy efforts towards investment in malaria control and elimination, particularly with the finance and development sectors of the government.

Keywords: Cost; Cost analysis; Economic burden; Malaria.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of the systematic review article selection
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of studies according to the World Health Organization (WHO) regions from 2000 to 2020. The systematic review covers the period of January 1, 2000, to May 8, 2020. Some studies refer to more than one country
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Publication types