Health Facility Cost of Buruli Ulcer Wound Treatment in Ghana: A Case Study

To estimate the wound treatment cost borne by the Buruli Ulcer Treatment Centre of the Amasaman Government Hospital, Ghana.

Three different types of data collection approaches were used, namely, 1) observation checklist, 2) in-depth interviews, and 3) expenditure data review. Wound dressing processes were observed. Retrospective health facility cost data of Buruli ulcer (BU) wound treatment for the year 2011 were used. Cost data gathered covered medical and nonmedical items. Cost analyses were carried out to determine the health facility's financial and economic costs.

The total annual financial cost was US $121,189.16, of which 99% was recurrent cost. This constitutes about 13% of the expenditure by the Amasaman Government Hospital for the year 2011. The total annual economic cost was US $143,609.22, of which 93% was recurrent cost. The main cost driver for both financial and economic costs was personnel. The annual BU wound treatment costs per capita were US $1615.86 for financial cost and US $1914.79 for economic cost, respectively. The study did not cover household patient costs.

The cost of BU wound treatment takes a considerable amount of the hospital's expenditure. This shows the importance of health facility cost as one of the decision-making tools for both resource allocation and mobilization. Hospital management must therefore constantly examine its staffing norms and the associated cost to improve the hospital's resource allocation.