title: Counting the cost of type 2 diabetes in Vanuatu.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the health system costs, cost to people with diabetes and their carers, and impact on quality of life associated with type 2 diabetes in Vanuatu.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional paper based survey was administered to 199 people with type 2 diabetes as part of a larger diabetes project.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 172 respondents (86% response rate) with a mean age of 56 years (mean duration of diabetes 8 years, 106 females; 67 unemployed). Over the preceding year there were 2352 outpatient visits for health care totalling 442,400 vatu ($4020 USD); 140 overnight hospital stays totalling 1,383,620 vatu ($12,580 USD); and prescription medications costing 3220 vatu/person ($29.20 USD). Major out-of-pocket costs for individuals were the over-the-counter medications totalling 6600 vatu/person/year ($60 USD) for 31 people (18%); transport at 1980 vatu/person/year ($18.00 USD) for 110 people (64%) and special diets for 38 people (22%) costing 36,480 vatu/person ($332 USD). Quality of life was 91/100 on the EQ-5D visual analogue scale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given that diabetes in Vanuatu is likely to be significantly under-diagnosed and under-treated the current costs, while substantial are artificially low but are set to rise sharply with increased awareness of diabetes and growing rates of obesity.
authors.affiliation: The Diabetes Unit, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Douglas George
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Falconer
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Colagiuri
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D017028:Caregivers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010139:Pacific Islands; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires