COST ANALYSIS OF TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH MICROCEPHALY IN THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM OF BRAZIL

Ana Lúcia da Silva, Bruno Chaves Morone-Pinto, Leslie Clifford Noronha Araujo* and Flávia Cristina Morone Pinto

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to analyze the health costs of the treatment and monitoring of children with microcephaly in the first year of life, considering the increase in cases of microcephaly associated with maternal infection by the Zika virus (ZIKV). This is an exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach. This research adopts the Activity-Based Costing (ABC) technique. The treatment of problems associated with microcephaly listed in the first year of life of children totaled US$5,937.97/year, with items related to clinical procedures accounting for most of the spending on health amounting to US$4,697.09 in the observed period, followed by procedures for diagnoses, with a total of US$634.00. In 2015, 1,227 cases of microcephaly were registered, 1,152 in the Northeast, which is the most affected by ZIKV, generating a cost to the public coffers of more than US$11 million annually. Highlights - Increase in the recorded cases of microcephaly in newborns in Brazil;  - Treatment not specific because the interventions depend on the degree of damage to the child; - Public health agenda reform needed to take into consideration the health care costs in the first year of life of children with Zika virus-related microcephaly; - Cost analysis was performed by Activity-Based Costing (ABC) technique, focusing on processes that drive cost, in this case, those related to the production of integral health care; - Cost of microephaly cases in 2015 (1,227), represented US$11 million.

Keywords: Public Health; Zika virus; Microcephaly; Cost analysis; Economic analysis.