Economic burden of malaria illness on households versus that of all other illness episodes: a study in five malaria holo-endemic Nigerian communities.

We compared the financial and economic costs of malaria attack to that of a combination of other illness episodes on households in five malaria holo-endemic rural communities. The data was collected from household heads or their representatives using pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire. Information was collected on the amount of money household spent to treat both malaria and other illnesses respectively, together with the time lost due to both the groups of illnesses within 1 month prior to the interview. The findings showed that the cost of treating malaria illness accounted for 49.87% of curative health care costs incurred by the households. Average malaria expenditure was $1.84 per household per month, while it was $2.60 per month for the combination of other illness episodes. The average person-days lost due to malaria and the combination of other illnesses were almost equal. If the financial costs of treating malaria and other illnesses are combined, this cost will deplete 7.03% of the monthly average household income, with treatment of malaria illness alone depleting 2.91%. Thus, malaria is a big contributor to the economic burden of disease, in malaria holo-endemic communities. Community-effective malaria control programs are needed to reduce this burden on the households.