Etiaba Enyi, Onwujekwe Obinna, Uzochukwu Benjamin, Adjagba Alex
Health Policy Research Group, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu-Campus, Enugu, Nigeria ; Department of Health Administration and Management, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu-Campus, Enugu, Nigeria.
Health Policy Research Group, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu-Campus, Enugu, Nigeria ; Department of Health Administration and Management, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu-Campus, Enugu, Nigeria ; Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu- Campus, Enugu, Nigeria.
Afr Health Sci. 2015 Mar;15(1):42-8. doi: 10.4314/ahs.v15i1.6.
Given the enormous economic burden of malaria in Nigeria and in sub-Saharan Africa, it is important to determine how different population groups cope with payment for malaria treatment. This paper provides new information about the differences in household coping mechanisms for expenditures on malaria treatment.
The study was undertaken in two communities in Southeast Nigeria. A total of 200 exit interviews were conducted with patients and their care givers after consultation and treatment for malaria. The methods that were used to cope with payments for malaria treatment expenditures were determined. The coping mechanisms were disaggregated by socio-economic status (SES).
The average expenditure to treat malaria was $22.9, which was all incurred through out-of- pocket payments. Some households used more than one coping method but none reported using health insurance. It was found that use of household savings (79.5%) followed by reduction in other household expenses (22.5%) were the most common coping methods. The reduction of other household expenses was significantly more prevalent with the average (Q4) SES group (p<0.05). .
People used different coping strategies to take care of their malaria expenditures, which are mostly paid out-of-pocket. The average socio-economic household had to forego other basic household expenditures in order to cope with malaria illness; otherwise there were no other significant differences in the coping mechanisms across the different SES groups. This could be indicative of the catastrophic nature of malaria treatment expenditures. Interventions that will reduce the burden of malaria expenditures on all households, within the context of Universal Health Coverage are needed so as to decrease the economic burden of malaria on households.
鉴于疟疾在尼日利亚和撒哈拉以南非洲造成的巨大经济负担，确定不同人群如何应对疟疾治疗费用至关重要。本文提供了关于家庭应对疟疾治疗支出机制差异的新信息。
该研究在尼日利亚东南部的两个社区开展。在对疟疾患者及其护理人员进行咨询和治疗后，共进行了200次出院访谈。确定了用于应对疟疾治疗支出的方法。应对机制按社会经济地位（SES）进行分类。
治疗疟疾的平均支出为22.9美元，全部通过自付费用产生。一些家庭使用了不止一种应对方法，但没有家庭报告使用医疗保险。结果发现，使用家庭储蓄（79.5%），其次是减少其他家庭开支（22.5%）是最常见的应对方法。在平均（第四季度）SES组中，减少其他家庭开支的情况更为普遍（p<0.05）。
人们采用不同的应对策略来支付疟疾治疗费用，这些费用大多是自付的。社会经济水平中等的家庭不得不放弃其他基本家庭支出以应对疟疾疾病；否则，不同SES组的应对机制没有其他显著差异。这可能表明疟疾治疗支出具有灾难性。需要在全民健康覆盖的背景下采取干预措施，减轻所有家庭的疟疾支出负担，以降低疟疾给家庭带来的经济负担。
