The Economic Burden of Malaria: a Systematic Review

Overview

Journal Malar J

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Tropical Medicine

Date 2022 Oct 5

PMID 36199078

Authors

Monica V Andrade

Kenya Noronha

Bernardo P C Diniz

Gilvan Guedes

Lucas R Carvalho

Valeria A Silva

Julia A Calazans

Andre S Santos

Daniel N Silva

Marcia C Castro

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Quantifying disease costs is critical for policymakers to set priorities, allocate resources, select control and prevention strategies, and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of interventions. Although malaria carries a very large disease burden, the availability of comprehensive and comparable estimates of malaria costs across endemic countries is scarce.

Methods: A literature review to summarize methodologies utilized to estimate malaria treatment costs was conducted to identify gaps in knowledge.

Results: Only 45 publications met the inclusion criteria. They utilize different methods, include distinct cost components, have varied geographical coverage (a country vs a city), include different periods in the analysis, and focus on specific parasite types or population groups (e.g., pregnant women).

Conclusions: Cost estimates currently available are not comparable, hindering broad statements on the costs of malaria, and constraining advocacy efforts towards investment in malaria control and elimination, particularly with the finance and development sectors of the government.

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