Objective: This study aims to estimate the cost of clinical management of COVID-19 infected patients based on their severity by exploring the resources used in care provision in Myanmar.
Methods: A multicenter retrospective cost analysis of COVID-19 patients treated was performed using the micro-costing approach from the perspective of the health system. It covered two cost components, namely Direct and Indirect cost of treating a patient. Input data and their quantities were obtained from COVID-19 Standard Treatment Guidelines of Ministry of Health and Sports, and administrative and financial record of resource utilization of three designated health facilities in Yangon Region. Valuation of these resources was based on the price list from the Procurement Section of the Ministry.
Results: The analysis estimated the unit cost of clinical management of COVID-19 infected patients with no symptom to be 953,552 MMK(717 USD), with Mild-Moderate Symptoms to be 1,155,222 MMK(869 USD) and with Severe-Critically Ill conditions to be 5,705,052 MMK(4290 USD). Average cost for a patient par day was 86,687 MMK(65 USD) for asymptomatic patients, 105,020 MMK(79 USD) for Mild-Moderate patients and 283,252 MMK(214 USD) for severe-critically ill patients. Since the first case detected till December 31, 2020, COVID-19 clinical management cost was accounted for 139 Billion MMK (104 million USD) for total 124630 confirmed cases.
Conclusions: The result of this study indicates that the COVID-19 Pandemic leads Myanmar Health System to incur the significant health care expenses. Timely implementation of the sustainable, affordable and efficient policy for COVID-19 responses is of utmost important for every nation especially in this situation of Pandemic. Specifically, the study results should be of value for strategic planning, for future economic evaluations of different policy interventions, and to contribute healthcare policy recommendations by analyzing the current cost of health care system and preparing for the potential state of COVID-19 infection.