Economic costs of malaria in Kenya.

Abstract

This study measures the cost of malaria among households in Kenya. The overall objective of the study is to determine the economic burden of malaria among households in Kenya.The methodology involved the use of cost of illness approach .The study uses cross sectional data from the welfare monitoring survey(1997). The direct costs and indirect costs of the illness are computed to estimate total costs. The findings shows that on average household spend Kshs 983 per malaria episode. The direct cost of illness amounted to Kshs 420 per case which represented 43 % of the total cost of a malaria episode to a household. The indirect cost of illness were estimated at Kshs563 per household.This represented 57% of the total cost of illness due to malaria. Total household malaria expenses as a percentage of income levels was 1%,and 0.65% of THE, other illness accounted for 4.5% of THE The study concludes by recommending the need by households to purchase treated nets

and invest resources in eradication efforts including clearing of stagnant pools and breeding sites. Recommended also is the need by the government to invest in anti-malaria vaccines in order to reduce the impact of the disease on households