The financial burden of malaria in Tanzania: implications for future government policy

Malaria is the cause of more mortality and morbidity in Tanzania than any other disease, in large part due to growing resistance to anti-malarial drugs. This study estimates that over 1% of GDP is devoted to the disease, representing US$2.2 per capita, and 39% of total health expenditure nationally. Government facilities devote almost one-third of their resources to the disease. Private expenditure, primarily on drugs, coils, sprays and bed-nets, represents 71% of total expenditures. Given the dominance of malaria treatment outside Government facilities, strategies to control behaviour in the private sector are critical. Together with regulations on private providers, and other interventions such as promoting the use of bed-nets in rural areas, greater research into and use of information strategies is required. Public policies should be designed to influence behaviour, to encourage households to seek adequate diagnosis of fever and to complete appropriate treatment with the right drugs.