BACKGROUND Snakebite is a major problem affecting the rural poor in many of the poorest countries in the tropics. However, the scale of the socio-economic burden has rarely been studied. We undertook a comprehensive assessment of the burden in Sri Lanka. METHODS Data from a representative nation-wide community based household survey were used to estimate the number of bites and deaths nationa...

OBJECTIVES To identify and quantify the direct and indirect economic cost of treatment for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) with conventional Amphotericin B deoxycholate, currently the first-line treatment in Muzaffarpur. METHODS Costs of patient management for VL were estimated from a societal and household perspective by means of a questionnaire designed for this study, interviews and financial ...

BACKGROUND Despite free TB services available in public health facilities, TB patients often face severe financial burden due to TB. WHO set a new global target that no TB-affected families experience catastrophic costs due to TB. To monitor the progress and strategize the optimal approach to achieve the target, there is a great need to assess baseline cost data, explore potential proxy indicat...

In many developing countries people are expected to contribute to the cost of health care from their own pockets. As a result, people's ability to pay (ATP) for health care, or the affordability of health care, has become a critical policy issue in developing countries, and a particularly urgent issue where households face combined user fee burdens from various essential service sectors such as...

BACKGROUND This study explores the consequences of a maternal death to households in rural Western Kenya focusing particularly on the immediate financial and economic impacts. METHODS Between September 2011 and March 2013 all households in the study area with a maternal death were surveyed. Data were collected on the demographic characteristics of the deceased woman; household socio-economic ...

AIMS Dental services differ from other health services in several dimensions. One important difference is that a substantial share of costs of dental services-especially costs beyond routine dental treatment-is paid directly by the patient out-of-pocket. SETTINGS AND DESIGN This study analyses the socio-economic determinants of out-of-pocket expenditure for dental services (OOPE) in Austria a...

OBJECTIVE To examine the health insurance experience and out-of-pocket health care costs of families with a child with IDDM. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A case-control study of 197 families with a child with IDDM and 142 control families with no diabetic children was conducted. IDDM-affected families were identified from the Allegheny County IDDM Registry. Brothers and sisters of the parents ...

CONTEXT Although attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent chronic condition of childhood, little is known about patterns of health care use and associated expenditures. OBJECTIVE To compare health care use and costs among children with ADHD, children with asthma, and the general pediatric population. DESIGN AND SETTING The 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, ...

BACKGROUND The financial burden of cancers has profound effects and there is a clear need to explore the issue from different perspectives and for different population groups. This study aimed at investigating inpatient cancer care (ICC) burden in Anhui, a typical inland province of China. METHODS The study collected data through a household survey conducted during April to November, 2014 usi...