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“I sold my towel and shoes to pay the traditional healer”: Care-seeking costs and productivity losses among snakebite victims in Eastern Province, Rwanda
Snakebite envenomation (SBE) is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and generally over-represented in rural, remote, and impoverished agricultural communities. While poverty is an established risk factor, little research has been done to investigate the economic consequences of SBE. This cross-sectional,...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10695369/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37983274 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011768 |
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author | Schurer, Janna M. Admasu, Mahlet Tadesse Bonaventure, Mihigo Hakizimana, Dieudonne Murara, Elijah MacDonald, Lauren E. Rafferty, Ellen |
author_facet | Schurer, Janna M. Admasu, Mahlet Tadesse Bonaventure, Mihigo Hakizimana, Dieudonne Murara, Elijah MacDonald, Lauren E. Rafferty, Ellen |
author_sort | Schurer, Janna M. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Snakebite envenomation (SBE) is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and generally over-represented in rural, remote, and impoverished agricultural communities. While poverty is an established risk factor, little research has been done to investigate the economic consequences of SBE. This cross-sectional, quantitative study aimed to measure out-of-pocket spending and lost income when a household member was bitten by a snake. In 2020, 732 snakebite survivors from Eastern Province (Rwanda) agreed to complete a survey administered by telephone. The survey focused on participant demographics, income, direct medical and non-medical costs, care-seeking decisions, and lost work during convalescence. Our results suggested that patients incurred the highest mean expenses when they sought care from hospitals (11 307 RWF or 12 USD) or traditional healers (5 836 RWF or 6 USD) but that the highest maximum cost was incurred from traditional healers (300 000 RWF or 313 USD). Across all victims, the total amount paid to traditional healers (3.4 million RWF or 3 537 USD) was 4.7 times higher than all other care providers combined. On average, families lost 111 814 RWF (117 USD) per snakebite in direct treatment costs and indirect productivity losses. Many victims sought care from traditional healers despite being eligible for free medical care. Altogether, this study serves as a reminder of the serious physical and financial consequences associated with SBE and provides justification for new investments into SBE prevention and care. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10695369 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106953692023-12-05 “I sold my towel and shoes to pay the traditional healer”: Care-seeking costs and productivity losses among snakebite victims in Eastern Province, Rwanda Schurer, Janna M. Admasu, Mahlet Tadesse Bonaventure, Mihigo Hakizimana, Dieudonne Murara, Elijah MacDonald, Lauren E. Rafferty, Ellen PLoS Negl Trop Dis Research Article Snakebite envenomation (SBE) is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and generally over-represented in rural, remote, and impoverished agricultural communities. While poverty is an established risk factor, little research has been done to investigate the economic consequences of SBE. This cross-sectional, quantitative study aimed to measure out-of-pocket spending and lost income when a household member was bitten by a snake. In 2020, 732 snakebite survivors from Eastern Province (Rwanda) agreed to complete a survey administered by telephone. The survey focused on participant demographics, income, direct medical and non-medical costs, care-seeking decisions, and lost work during convalescence. Our results suggested that patients incurred the highest mean expenses when they sought care from hospitals (11 307 RWF or 12 USD) or traditional healers (5 836 RWF or 6 USD) but that the highest maximum cost was incurred from traditional healers (300 000 RWF or 313 USD). Across all victims, the total amount paid to traditional healers (3.4 million RWF or 3 537 USD) was 4.7 times higher than all other care providers combined. On average, families lost 111 814 RWF (117 USD) per snakebite in direct treatment costs and indirect productivity losses. Many victims sought care from traditional healers despite being eligible for free medical care. Altogether, this study serves as a reminder of the serious physical and financial consequences associated with SBE and provides justification for new investments into SBE prevention and care. Public Library of Science 2023-11-20 /pmc/articles/PMC10695369/ /pubmed/37983274 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011768 Text en © 2023 Schurer et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Schurer, Janna M. Admasu, Mahlet Tadesse Bonaventure, Mihigo Hakizimana, Dieudonne Murara, Elijah MacDonald, Lauren E. Rafferty, Ellen “I sold my towel and shoes to pay the traditional healer”: Care-seeking costs and productivity losses among snakebite victims in Eastern Province, Rwanda |
title | “I sold my towel and shoes to pay the traditional healer”: Care-seeking costs and productivity losses among snakebite victims in Eastern Province, Rwanda |
title_full | “I sold my towel and shoes to pay the traditional healer”: Care-seeking costs and productivity losses among snakebite victims in Eastern Province, Rwanda |
title_fullStr | “I sold my towel and shoes to pay the traditional healer”: Care-seeking costs and productivity losses among snakebite victims in Eastern Province, Rwanda |
title_full_unstemmed | “I sold my towel and shoes to pay the traditional healer”: Care-seeking costs and productivity losses among snakebite victims in Eastern Province, Rwanda |
title_short | “I sold my towel and shoes to pay the traditional healer”: Care-seeking costs and productivity losses among snakebite victims in Eastern Province, Rwanda |
title_sort | “i sold my towel and shoes to pay the traditional healer”: care-seeking costs and productivity losses among snakebite victims in eastern province, rwanda |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10695369/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37983274 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011768 |
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