The cost of treatment for child pneumonias and meningitis in the Northern Areas of Pakistan

Abstract

Pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis place a significant economic burden on health care systems, particularly in developing countries. This study estimates treatment costs for these diseases in health facilities in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Health facility resources are organized by categories--including salaries, capital costs, utilities, overhead, maintenance and supplies--and quantified using activity-based costing (ABC) techniques. The average cost of treatment for an outpatient case of child pneumonia is dollar 13.44. For hospitalized care, the health system spent an average of dollar 71 per episode for pneumonia, dollar 235 for severe pneumonia, and dollar 2,043 for meningitis. These costs provide important background information for the potential introduction of the conjugate Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccines in Pakistan.

Costing of Malaria treatment in a rural district hospital

“…They divide the entire treatment process into several activities or sub-processes and calculate the total cost of a particular patient or diagnosis by adding up the cost along the clinical pathway [15]. This activity-based (or bottom-up) costing has become a standard in the developed world [16][17][18], but it is hardly applied in hospitals of developing countries as it is quite detailed and requires a degree of precision of documentation and recording that is frequently not existing in these countries [19,20].…”

Estimated Economic Benefits During The ‘Decade Of Vaccines’ Include Treatment Savings, Gains In Labor Productivity

“…12,[17][18][19][20] The number of averted cases who would have sought treatment from various facilities was then multiplied by the country-specific cost of care at each facility, as estimated by the World Health Organization. 8,9,[21][22][23][24][25] A diagram of the analysis is available in the online Appendix. Lost Productivity In addition to treatment costs averted, caretakers' lost productivity from seeking care for a sick child was calculated.…”

Treatment Costs of Pneumonia, Meningitis, Sepsis, and Other Diseases among Hospitalized Children in Viet Nam

“…Two previous studies in Pakistan estimated costs associated with clinical syndromes of invasive pneumococcal disease (24,25). For hospitalized care, the healthcare provider spent, on average, US$ 71 …”

“…The cost of drugs represented 40-63% of the total treatment costs. per episode for pneumonia, US$ 235 for severe pneumonia, and US$ 2,043 for meningitis (25).…”