Distribution and cost of Syrian refugees operated on in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey

Background: As a result of the Syrian civil war, > 5 million Syrian citizens have fled to neighbouring countries, particularly Turkey, under refugee status. Aims: To analyse the cost and justification for surgery of Syrian refugees treated in a secondary care hospital in Sanliurfa, Southeastern Turkey, close to the Syrian border. Methods: We enrolled 1458 Syrian refugees who were operated upon between 2012 and 2015. The data were obtained through a retrospective search of the hospital information system. Patients were divided into traumatic and nontraumatic cases. Injured body regions, anaesthetic technique, duration of operation, length of hospital stay, sociodemographic features and treatment cost were recorded and analysed. Results: Length of the hospital stay was 7.66 (0.31) days for all 1458 patients. The most common operations were orthopaedic, urological and cranial surgery. The total healthcare costs while patients stayed in hospital was ~US$ 2 million, and cost per patient was US$ 1400. Conclusions: The number of trauma operations performed has declined between 2012 and 2015. Health spending on refugees is an indicator of the economic burden on the country

Factors Associated with Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure in Polish Regions

Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments are perceived as the most regressive means of health financing. Using the panel-data approach and region-aggregated data from Statistics Poland, this research investigated associations between socio-economic factors and OOP health spending in 16 Polish regions for the period 1999–2019. The dependent variable was real (inflation-adjusted) monthly OOP health expenditure per person in Polish households. Potential independent variables included economic, labour, demographic, educational, health, environmental, and lifestyle measures based on previous research. A set of panel-data estimators was used in regression models. The factors that were positively associated with OOP health spending were disposable income, the proportions of children (aged 0–9) and elderly (70+ years) in the population, healthcare supply (proxied by physicians’ density), air pollution, and tobacco and alcohol expenditure. On the other hand, the increased unemployment rate, life expectancy at age 65, mortality rate, and higher sports participation were all related to lower OOP health spending. The results may guide national strategies to improve health-care allocations and offer additional financial protection for vulnerable groups, such as households with children and elderly members.

Multi-Layered Catastrophic Health Spending of Inpatient Women by Broad Group of Diseases in India

Healthcare for Indian women needs prioritizing, as they continue to face social and economic discrimination over their healthcare, often with high out-of-pocket payments. The study examines the amount inpatient women have to pay for treatment of major diseases, re-classified into four groups as infectious, reproductive, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and disabilities & injuries, across the country to comprehend the extent of catastrophic health spending (CHS) they experienced. The study is based on India’s 75th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), i.e., Household Social Consumption: Health (2017-2018), consisting of 26,938 inpatient women aged 12 and above from India's urban and rural areas. We examine the prevalence of the four categories of diseases by individual, household, community, and healthcare characteristics. Expenditure estimates were derived from cross-tabulation, followed by binary logistic regression to assess the association between covariates and inpatient expenditures for the diseases. Indian women are more likely to be hospitalized for infectious diseases (43%), but the burden of CHS (overall) is highest for disabilities and injuries (INR 24,414), followed by NCDs (INR 23,053). Duration of hospitalization and possession of health insurance by women indicate maximum variation with medical spending. Almost 97% of women have incurred out-of-pocket expenditure on hospitalization, from which we identify three layers of CHS. A substantial proportion of women (23 to 50%) experienced CHS, i.e., up to 0-10%, 11-30%, and >30%, which varies distinctively by place of residence and across the six regions. Covariates like age, economic status, and healthcare are highly significant and associated with disease-wise CHS thresholds. Women in India face divergent financial hardships for healthcare. Given the heterogeneity of morbidities and socio-economic characteristics, the need for women-sensitive public health services and interventions are evident.

Catastrophic health expenditure: the case of households with adults over 60 years of age in Peru – 2019

Within the health sector, it is vitally important to analyze whether households incur catastrophic spending for using such services. In this sense, the study seeks to estimate catastrophic health spending for households with members over 60 years of age. To achieve the objective, the methodology of the World Health Organization was used to find the way in which the household incurs in catastrophic spending, using as an instrument the National Household Survey of Peru, for the year 2019. The main results found were: that families living in urban areas, who have health insurance, who have a higher academic degree, decrease the probability of incurring in catastrophic spending, while being over 60 years old, having a chronic disease, suffering some permanent limitation and not having hygienic services, help to incur in catastrophic spending, so it was concluded that the most vulnerable areas should be attended to achieve a better welfare for older adults. Keywords: catastrophic expense, out-of-pocket expense, health insurance. References [1]J. Alvis, c. Marruco, N. Alvis, F. Gomes, Á. Flores and D. Moreno, «Gasto de bolsillo y gasto catastrófico en salud en los hogares de Cartagena, Colombia,» Salud Publica, 10 2018. [2]E. Giménez, L. Flores, J. Rodriguez, G. Ocampos and N. Peralta, «Gastos catastróficos de salud en los hogares del Paraguay,» Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud, vol. 16, nº 2, 2018. [3]E. Gonzáles and J. García, «Gastos catastróficos en salud, transferencias gubernamentales y remesas en México, » Papeles de población, vol. 23, nº 91, 2017.[4]A. Hernández, C. Rojas, M. Santero, J. Prado y D.Rosselli, «health-related out-of-pocket expenses in older peruvian adults: analysis of the national householdsurvey on living conditions and poverty 2017,» Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Publica, vol. 35, nº 3, 2017. [5]O. Lazo, J. Alcalde and O. Espinosa, «El sistema de salud en Perú,» Lima , 2016. [6]World Health Organization Geneva, «Distribución del gasto en salud y gastos catastróficos Metodología,» 2005. [7]Organización Mundial de la Salud, «Organización Mundial de la Salud,» 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/topics/chronic_diseases/es/. [8]Organización Mundial de la Salud , «Organización Mundial de la Salud,» 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.who.int/topics/disabilities/es/.

Does the implementation of UHC reforms foster greater equality in health spending? Evidence from a benefit incidence analysis in Burkina Faso

IntroductionBurkina Faso is one among many countries in sub-Saharan Africa having invested in Universal Health Coverage (UHC) policies, with a number of studies have evaluated their impacts and equity impacts. Still, no evidence exists on how the distributional incidence of health spending has changed in relation to their implementation. Our study assesses changes in the distributional incidence of public and overall health spending in Burkina Faso in relation to the implementation of UHC policies.MethodsWe combined National Health Accounts data and household survey data to conduct a series of Benefit Incidence Analyses. We captured the distribution of public and overall health spending at three time points. We conducted separate analyses for maternal and curative services and estimated the distribution of health spending separately for different care levels.ResultsInequalities in the distribution of both public and overall spending decreased significantly over time, following the implementation of UHC policies. Pooling data on curative services across all care levels, the concentration index (CI) for public spending decreased from 0.119 (SE 0.013) in 2009 to −0.024 (SE 0.014) in 2017, while the CI for overall spending decreased from 0.222 (SE 0.032) in 2009 to 0.105 (SE 0.025) in 2017. Pooling data on institutional deliveries across all care levels, the CI for public spending decreased from 0.199 (SE 0.029) in 2003 to 0.013 (SE 0.002) in 2017, while the CI for overall spending decreased from 0.242 (SE 0.032) in 2003 to 0.062 (SE 0.016) in 2017. Persistent inequalities were greater at higher care levels for both curative and institutional delivery services.ConclusionOur findings suggest that the implementation of UHC in Burkina Faso has favoured a more equitable distribution of health spending. Nonetheless, additional action is urgently needed to overcome remaining barriers to access, especially among the very poor, further enhancing equality.