The burden of malaria on human and economic resources cannot be underestimated. In the Nigerian communities where malaria is endemic, the impact on households results in the loss of resources, time, and health of the household members. Up to 97% of the population in Nigeria live under the risk of malaria and 76% in high transmission areas; 50% of the population estimated to have at least one episode of malaria yearly, with the incidence of about 2 to 4 episodes among children every year. The expenditure on malaria represents over 40% of curative healthcare costs with catastrophic impact on the microeconomic level where households are represented. The study set out to determine the economic cost of treating malaria and the health-seeking behaviour of households in Akwa Ibom State, South-South Nigeria. A cross sectional descriptive study among 640 households across the 3 Local Government Areas of the survey. Quantitative method was used to gather information and collected data were analyzed using SPSS software with the result on the cost of malaria treatment estimated using the prevailing interbank exchange rate of 197 Naira per SDU in 2015 and 379 in 2021. The results showed that 55.7% of households preferred visiting drug stores for malaria treatment. Total cost was made up of 44.7% of direct cost and 55.3% of indirect cost, with average direct cost of malaria treatment per household estimated at 8,563.77 Naira (22.60 USD) and the average indirect cost of treatment per household estimated at 10,437.09 Naira (27.54 USD). Average total cost for each episode (888) of malaria was estimated at 9,305.51 Naira (22.55 USD) while at the household level, the average total cost was estimated at 18,868.10 Naira (49.78 USD). In conclusion, low-income households spend 36% of monthly household income on treating malaria compared to high-income households with spending of only 1.2%. The cost of malaria treatment is well beyond the means of the households and given the reality of repeated bouts of malaria and its contribution to the impoverishment of households necessitating increase investment in treatment and preventive intervention.
Published in | World Journal of Public Health (Volume 7, Issue 2) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11 |
Page(s) | 39-45 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Malaria, Household, Cost, Income
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APA Style
Nsikan Affiah, Sunkanmi Fadoju, Idara James, Ndifreke James, Chimankpam Uzoma, et al. (2022). Economic Impact of Malaria Treatment on Resource-constrained Households in Akwa Ibom: A Case Study on Selected Local Government Areas. World Journal of Public Health, 7(2), 39-45. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11
ACS Style
Nsikan Affiah; Sunkanmi Fadoju; Idara James; Ndifreke James; Chimankpam Uzoma, et al. Economic Impact of Malaria Treatment on Resource-constrained Households in Akwa Ibom: A Case Study on Selected Local Government Areas. World J. Public Health 2022, 7(2), 39-45. doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11
AMA Style
Nsikan Affiah, Sunkanmi Fadoju, Idara James, Ndifreke James, Chimankpam Uzoma, et al. Economic Impact of Malaria Treatment on Resource-constrained Households in Akwa Ibom: A Case Study on Selected Local Government Areas. World J Public Health. 2022;7(2):39-45. doi: 10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11
@article{10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11, author = {Nsikan Affiah and Sunkanmi Fadoju and Idara James and Ndifreke James and Chimankpam Uzoma and Emmanuel Opada and Joseph Jasini}, title = {Economic Impact of Malaria Treatment on Resource-constrained Households in Akwa Ibom: A Case Study on Selected Local Government Areas}, journal = {World Journal of Public Health}, volume = {7}, number = {2}, pages = {39-45}, doi = {10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.wjph.20220702.11}, abstract = {The burden of malaria on human and economic resources cannot be underestimated. In the Nigerian communities where malaria is endemic, the impact on households results in the loss of resources, time, and health of the household members. Up to 97% of the population in Nigeria live under the risk of malaria and 76% in high transmission areas; 50% of the population estimated to have at least one episode of malaria yearly, with the incidence of about 2 to 4 episodes among children every year. The expenditure on malaria represents over 40% of curative healthcare costs with catastrophic impact on the microeconomic level where households are represented. The study set out to determine the economic cost of treating malaria and the health-seeking behaviour of households in Akwa Ibom State, South-South Nigeria. A cross sectional descriptive study among 640 households across the 3 Local Government Areas of the survey. Quantitative method was used to gather information and collected data were analyzed using SPSS software with the result on the cost of malaria treatment estimated using the prevailing interbank exchange rate of 197 Naira per SDU in 2015 and 379 in 2021. The results showed that 55.7% of households preferred visiting drug stores for malaria treatment. Total cost was made up of 44.7% of direct cost and 55.3% of indirect cost, with average direct cost of malaria treatment per household estimated at 8,563.77 Naira (22.60 USD) and the average indirect cost of treatment per household estimated at 10,437.09 Naira (27.54 USD). Average total cost for each episode (888) of malaria was estimated at 9,305.51 Naira (22.55 USD) while at the household level, the average total cost was estimated at 18,868.10 Naira (49.78 USD). In conclusion, low-income households spend 36% of monthly household income on treating malaria compared to high-income households with spending of only 1.2%. The cost of malaria treatment is well beyond the means of the households and given the reality of repeated bouts of malaria and its contribution to the impoverishment of households necessitating increase investment in treatment and preventive intervention.}, year = {2022} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Economic Impact of Malaria Treatment on Resource-constrained Households in Akwa Ibom: A Case Study on Selected Local Government Areas AU - Nsikan Affiah AU - Sunkanmi Fadoju AU - Idara James AU - Ndifreke James AU - Chimankpam Uzoma AU - Emmanuel Opada AU - Joseph Jasini Y1 - 2022/04/09 PY - 2022 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11 DO - 10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11 T2 - World Journal of Public Health JF - World Journal of Public Health JO - World Journal of Public Health SP - 39 EP - 45 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2637-6059 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.wjph.20220702.11 AB - The burden of malaria on human and economic resources cannot be underestimated. In the Nigerian communities where malaria is endemic, the impact on households results in the loss of resources, time, and health of the household members. Up to 97% of the population in Nigeria live under the risk of malaria and 76% in high transmission areas; 50% of the population estimated to have at least one episode of malaria yearly, with the incidence of about 2 to 4 episodes among children every year. The expenditure on malaria represents over 40% of curative healthcare costs with catastrophic impact on the microeconomic level where households are represented. The study set out to determine the economic cost of treating malaria and the health-seeking behaviour of households in Akwa Ibom State, South-South Nigeria. A cross sectional descriptive study among 640 households across the 3 Local Government Areas of the survey. Quantitative method was used to gather information and collected data were analyzed using SPSS software with the result on the cost of malaria treatment estimated using the prevailing interbank exchange rate of 197 Naira per SDU in 2015 and 379 in 2021. The results showed that 55.7% of households preferred visiting drug stores for malaria treatment. Total cost was made up of 44.7% of direct cost and 55.3% of indirect cost, with average direct cost of malaria treatment per household estimated at 8,563.77 Naira (22.60 USD) and the average indirect cost of treatment per household estimated at 10,437.09 Naira (27.54 USD). Average total cost for each episode (888) of malaria was estimated at 9,305.51 Naira (22.55 USD) while at the household level, the average total cost was estimated at 18,868.10 Naira (49.78 USD). In conclusion, low-income households spend 36% of monthly household income on treating malaria compared to high-income households with spending of only 1.2%. The cost of malaria treatment is well beyond the means of the households and given the reality of repeated bouts of malaria and its contribution to the impoverishment of households necessitating increase investment in treatment and preventive intervention. VL - 7 IS - 2 ER -