Economic Cost of Dengue: A Selective Case in Bangladesh

Saima Islam and Iftekharul Huq

Background and Objective: Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection that causes a severe illness called Dengue fever. Bangladesh is one of the countries that are affected by the Dengue virus. Dengue fever first appeared in the year 2000 but till now no research has been done to calculate the economic burden of Dengue in Bangladesh. The objective of this study was to estimate the components of health cost and to identify economic burden through computing the total expenditure. Materials and Methods: Both primary and secondary data were used to calculate the health cost of Dengue. Sample data were collected by doing the survey and taking interviews with the patients. Both tabular and statistical methods were used to determine the direct and indirect cost of the patients. Results: By calculating the aggregate economic costs through direct and indirect cost the variability of Dengue cases and the cost across the year was addressed. The cost for private health care facilities is higher compared to public health care facilities as in private hospitals 92% of expenditure goes for medical treatment purposes. The aggregate economic expenditure is around US$ 15.27 million. Aggregate expenditure would increase if the outpatient’s cost and averting expenditure are acknowledged. Conclusion: In Dhaka, the aggregate economic expenditure for treating Dengue is significantly high. Dengue is a disease that can easily be avoided by taking precautionary steps and thus there will be no need to bear the huge amount of cost burden.

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