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ECONOMIC COST OF TREATMENT OF CHILDHOOD EPILEPSY IN ENUGU, SOUTHEAST NIGERIA

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the economic costs and the level of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) due to childhood epilepsy. Methods: The study was conducted at the Paediatric Neurology Clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. Data were collected using pre-tested questionnaires that were administered to caregivers of the children. The indirect and direct expenditure due to childhood epilepsy were computed. A 40 percent of monthly non-food expenditure was used to estimate CHE. Results: The average annual direct and indirect expenditures were USD 162.6 and USD 82.3, respectively. Most of direct costs were drugs (25.4 percent versus 35.3 percent) and investigations (48.7 percent versus 61.3 percent) for out-patient and in-patient, respectively. CHE was 34.1 percent and 63.6 percent for out-patient and in-patient care, respectively. The total annual costs: (direct and indirect), for childhood epilepsy of USD244.9. Considering the estimated 190,000 epileptic children in Nigeria, it will amount to USD46.53 million annually, approximately 0.018 percent of Nigeria Gross Domestic Product (GDP). All payments were made out-of-pocket with no health insurance for financial risk protection. Conclusions: The cost of treatment of childhood epilepsy is high and catastrophic for many households. There was lack of usage of health financial risk mechanisms. Scale-up use of health financial risk protection mechanisms such as health insurance can reduce the economic burden.