Description
Introduction: The burden of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a growing public health concern. The availability of cost of illness data particularly public healthcare costs for NCDs is limited in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), yet such data evidence is needed for policy action. The main objective of this study was to estimate the economic burden of type 2 diabetes (T2D) on Kenya’s public healthcare system in the year 2021 and project costs for the year 2045.
Methodology: This was a cost-of-illness study using the prevalence-based bottom-up costing approach to estimate the economic burden of T2D in the year 2021. We further conducted projections on the estimated costs for the year 2045. The costs were estimated corresponding to the care, treatment, and management of diabetes and some diabetes complications based on the primary data collected from six healthcare facilities in Nairobi and secondary costing data from previous costing studies in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The data capture and costing analysis were done in Microsoft Excel 16, and sensitivity analysis was conducted on all the parameters to estimate the cost changes
Results and discussions: The total cost of the management of T2D for the health care system in Kenya was estimated to be US$ 635 million (KES 74,521 million) in 2021. This was an increase of US$ 2 million (KES197 million) considering the screening costs of undiagnosed T2D in the country. The major cost driver representing 59% of the overall costs was attributed to T2D complications, with nephropathy having the highest estimated costs of care and management (US$ 332 million (KES36, 457 million). This was projected to rise to US$ 1.6 billion (KES177 billion) in 2045. The burden of chronic NCDs such as T2D is a growing public health concern. We found that the total costs for managing T2D in Kenya would be equivalent to ~60% of the entire health budget in 2021/2022 if all cases of T2D were diagnosed and treated in public healthcare facilities. This is a substantial economic burden to Kenya, just from one nutrition-related NCD. This is the first study attempting to comprehensively estimate the healthcare system costs for the management of T2D and related complications in Kenya.
Conclusions: This study shows that T2D imposes a huge burden on Kenya’s healthcare system. There is a need for government and societal action to develop and implement policies that prevent T2D, and appropriately plan care for those diagnosed with T2D.
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