Economic Cost of Breast Cancer in Ghana: The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Experience

Abstract

Breast cancer is a chronic disease which is gaining significant attention in developed and developing nations. Most developing nations do not estimate the cost of the disease and its implication to economic growth and development. The economic cost implication associated with the disease, its processes and treatment is important. This study estimates the economic cost of breast cancer in Ghana: The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) experience. The aim is to assist in the efficient and effective allocation of scarce health resources in Ghana. The Human Capital method and the bottom-up computational approach were used to estimate the indirect and direct costs respectively. More so, cost of medication was the most significant direct cost in the study. Again, the study found the direct annual cost per patient to be GH¢2,070.83 and the indirect annual cost to be GH¢3,937.16 per patient. In all, the average cost per patient for the period under consideration was GH¢6,008.09. The study recommends to government to increase subsidization on the treatment of the disease and to strategically intensify public awareness of the disease. Breast cancer is now the leading cause of female mortality in Ghana due mainly to late reporting of the disease among relatively younger patients as compared to cases in developed nations. The study unearthed the economic cost of the disease which is felt clinically, socially and economically. This revealed how much the Ghanaian society would save if the disease were prevented.

Key words: Economic Cost, Breast Cancer, Direct Cost, Indirect Cost, Human Capital Method