title: The cost of treatment for child pneumonias and meningitis in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
abstract: Pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis place a significant economic burden on health care systems, particularly in developing countries. This study estimates treatment costs for these diseases in health facilities in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Health facility resources are organized by categories--including salaries, capital costs, utilities, overhead, maintenance and supplies--and quantified using activity-based costing (ABC) techniques. The average cost of treatment for an outpatient case of child pneumonia is dollar 13.44. For hospitalized care, the health system spent an average of dollar 71 per episode for pneumonia, dollar 235 for severe pneumonia, and dollar 2,043 for meningitis. These costs provide important background information for the potential introduction of the conjugate Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccines in Pakistan.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Rm. W5504 Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. hhussain@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Hamidah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Waters
authors.forename: Saad B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Omer
authors.forename: Aamir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Imam Yar
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Baig
authors.forename: Rozina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mistry
authors.forename: Neal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Halsey
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003361:Cost Allocation; D017281:Cost of Illness; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008581:Meningitis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010154:Pakistan; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate / Q000191:economics
chemical_list: D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate