Poverty, user fees and ability to pay for health care for children with suspected dengue in rural Cambodia

User fees were introduced in public health facilities in Cambodia in 1997 in order to inject funds into the health system to enhance the quality of services. Because of inadequate health insurance, a social safety net scheme was introduced to ensure that all people were able to attend the health facilities. However, continuing high rates of hospitalization and mortality from dengue fever among infants and children reflect the difficulties that women continue to face in finding sufficient cash in cases of medical emergency, resulting in delays in diagnosis and treatment. In this article, drawing on in-depth interviews conducted with mothers of children infected with dengue in eastern Cambodia, we illustrate the profound economic consequences for households when a child is ill. The direct costs for health care and medical services, and added indirect costs, deterred poor women from presenting with sick children. Those who eventually sought care often had to finance health spending through out-of-pocket payments and loans, or sold property, goods or labour to meet the costs. Costs were often catastrophic, exacerbating the extreme poverty of those least able to afford it

Community and School-Based Health Education for Dengue Control in Rural Cambodia: A Process Evaluation

Dengue fever continues to be a major public health problem in Cambodia, with significant impact on children. Health education is a major means for prevention and control of the National Dengue Control Program (NDCP), and is delivered to communities and in schools. Drawing on data collected in 2003–2004 as part of an ethnographic study conducted in eastern Cambodia, we explore the approaches used in health education and their effectiveness to control dengue. Community health education is provided through health centre outreach activities and campaigns of the NDCP, but is not systematically evaluated, is under-funded and delivered irregularly; school-based education is restricted in terms of time and lacks follow-up in terms of practical activities for prevention and control. As a result, adherence is partial. We suggest the need for sustained routine education for dengue prevention and control, and the need for approaches to ensure the translation of knowledge into practice

Framework for health outreach activities in Cambodia.

<p>Framework for health outreach activities in Cambodia.</p

Outreach activities at health centres.

<p>Outreach activities at health centres.</p

Dengue fever prevention and control measures.

<p>(Image courtesy of: National Dengue Control Program, Cambodia).</p

How to control the tiger mosquito dengue fever vector.

<p>(Image courtesy of: National Dengue Control Program, Cambodia).</p

Health seeking and access to care for children with suspected dengue in Cambodia: An ethnographic study

RefereedBackground: The continuing contribution of dengue fever to the hospitalization and deaths in hospital of infants and small children in Cambodia is associated with delays in presentation for medical attention, diagnosis and appropriate care. It is important to identify the reasons that influence these delays, in order to develop appropriate interventions to redress the impact of dengue. Methods: Data on health seeking were collected during an ethnographic study conducted in two villages in the eastern province of Kampong Cham, Cambodia in 2004. Interviews were conducted with mothers whose children had been infected with suspected dengue fever, or who had been sick for other reasons, in 2003 and 2004. Results: Women selected a therapeutic option based on perceptions of the severity of the child's condition, confidence in the particular modality, service or practitioner, and affordability of the therapy. While they knew what type of health care was required, poverty in combination with limited availability and perceptions of the poor quality of care at village health centers and public referral hospitals deterred them from doing so. Women initially used home remedies, then sought advice from public and private providers, shifting from one sector to another in a pragmatic response to the child's illness. Conclusion: The lack of availability of financial resources for poor people and their continuing lack of confidence in the care provided by government centres combine to delay help seeking and inappropriate treatment of children sick with dengue.UNICEF–UNDP–World Bank–WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO/TDR