%0 Journal Article
%T Cost of mental and behavioural disorders in Kenya
%A Joses M Kirigia
%A Luis G Sambo
%J Annals of General Psychiatry
%D 2003
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-2832-2-7
%X Drawing information from various secondary sources, this study used standard cost-of-illness methods to estimate: (a) the direct costs, i.e. those borne by the health care system and the family in directly addressing the problem of MBD; and (b) the indirect costs, i.e. loss of productivity caused by MBD, which is borne by the individual, the family or the employer. The study was based on Kenyan public hospitals, either dedicated to care of MBD patients or with a MBD ward.The study revealed that: (i) in the financial year 1998/99, the Kenyan economy lost approximately US$13,350,840 due to institutionalized MBD patients; (ii) the total economic cost of MBD per admission was US$2,351; (iii) the unit cost of operating and organizing psychiatric services per admission was US$1,848; (iv) the out-of-pocket expenses borne by patients and their families per admission was US$51; and (v) the productivity loss per admission was US$453.There is an urgent need for research in all African countries to determine: national-level epidemiological burden of MBD, measured in terms of the prevalence, incidence, mortality, and, probably, the disability-adjusted life-years lost; and the economic burden of MBD, broken down by different productive and social sectors and occupations of patients and relatives."..mental health affects all spheres of human endeavour and that there is no health without mental health. .. Ministers (of Health at the 54th World Health Assembly) agreed that raising the level of awareness is the first priority. Policy-makers in government and civil society need to be sensitized about the huge and complex nature of the economic burden of MBD and the need for more resources to treat MBD."Senator the Hon. Phillip C. Goddard, Minister of Health, Barbados [1].The historical marginalization of mental health from mainstream health and welfare services in many countries has contributed to endemic stigmatization and discrimination of MBD people [2]. As a result, mental health
%U http://www.annals-general-psychiatry.com/content/2/1/7