2022/05/01 by Paul Eze, Lucky Osaheni Lawani, Ujunwa Justina Agu +1
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Medicine · Health Professions · #Healthcare Systems and Reforms #Global Maternal and Child Health #Global Health Care Issues
paper · pdf · doi:10.2471/blt.21.287673
Objective: To estimate the incidence of, and trends in, catastrophic health expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: We systematically reviewed the scientific and grey literature to identify population-based studies on catastrophic health expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa published between 2000 and 2021. We performed a meta-analysis using two definitions of catastrophic health expenditure: 10% of total household expenditure and 40% of household non-food expenditure. The results of individual studies were pooled by pairwise meta-analysis using the random-effects model. Findings: = 99.8%) for a threshold of 40% of household non-food expenditure. Countries in central and southern sub-Saharan Africa had the highest and lowest incidence, respectively. A trend analysis found that, after initially declining in the 2000s, the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa increased between 2010 and 2020. The incidence among people affected by specific diseases, such as noncommunicable diseases, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, was generally higher. Conclusion: Although data on catastrophic health expenditure for some countries were sparse, the data available suggest that a non-negligible share of households in sub-Saharan Africa experienced catastrophic expenditure when accessing health-care services. Stronger financial protection measures are needed.