Economic burden of malaria illness on households versus that of all other illness episodes: a study in five malaria holo-endemic Nigerian communities

We compared the financial and economic costs of malaria attack to that of a combination of other illness episodes on households in five malaria hole-e ndemic rural communities. The data was collected from household heads or th eir representatives using pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire . Information was collected on the amount of money household spent to treat both malaria and other illnesses respectively, together with the time lost due to both the groups of illnesses within 1 month prior to the interview. The findings showed that the cost of treating malaria illness accounted fo r 49.87% of curative health care costs incurred by the households. Average malaria expenditure was $1.84 per household per month, while it was $2.60 p er month for the combination of other illness episodes. The average person- days lost due to malaria and the combination of other illnesses were almost equal. If the financial coals of treating malaria and other illnesses are combined, this cost will deplete 7.03% of the monthly average household inc ome, with treatment of malaria illness alone depleting 2.91%. Thus, malaria is a big contributor to the economic burden of disease, in malaria hole-en demic communities. Community-effective malaria control programs are needed to reduce this burden on the households. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.