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Patients' costs, socio-economic and health system aspects associated with malaria in pregnancy in an endemic area of Colombia

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
Malaria in pregnancy threatens birth outcomes and the health of
                women and their newborns. This is also the case in low
                transmission areas, such as Colombia, where Plasmodium vivax is
                the dominant parasite species. Within the Colombian health
                system, which underwent major reforms in the 90s, malaria
                treatment is provided free of charge to patients. However,
                patients still incur costs, such as transportation and value of
                time lost due to the disease. We estimated such costs among 40
                pregnant women with clinical malaria (30% Plasmodium falciparum,
                70% Plasmodium vivax) in the municipality of Tierralta, Northern
                Colombia. In a cross-sectional study, women were interviewed
                after an outpatient or inpatient laboratory confirmed malaria
                episode. Women were asked to report all types of cost incurred
                before (including prevention), during and immediately after the
                contact with the health facility. Median total cost was over
                16US$ for an outpatient visit, rising to nearly 30US$ if other
                treatments were sought before reaching the health facility.
                Median total inpatient cost was 26US$ or 54US$ depending on
                whether costs incurred prior to admission were excluded or
                included. For both outpatients and inpatients, direct costs were
                largely due to transportation and indirect costs constituted the
                largest share of total costs. Estimated costs are likely to
                represent only one of the constraints that women face when
                seeking treatment in an area characterized, at the time of the
                study, by armed conflict, displacement, and high vulnerability
                of indigenous women, the group at highest risk of malaria.
                Importantly, the Colombian peace process, which culminated with
                the cease-fire in August 2016, may have a positive impact on
                achieving universal access to healthcare in conflict areas. The
                current study can inform malaria elimination initiatives in
                Colombia.

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Reproducció del document publicat a:
                http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006431

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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2018, vol. 12, num. 5, p.
                e0006431

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Articles publicats en revistes (ISGlobal)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Patients' costs, socio-economic and health system aspects associated with malaria in pregnancy in an endemic area of Colombia