HIV-positive pregnant women attending the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS (PMTCT) services in Ethiopia: economic productivity losses across urban-rural settings

• Published in: Psychology, health & medicine Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 525 - 531
• Main Authors: Zegeye, Elias Asfaw, Mbonigaba, Josue, Kaye, Sylvia Blanche
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis Ltd 01.06.2018
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Children; Efficiency; Ethiopia; Female; Health facilities; HIV; HIV Infections - economics; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Home Care Services; Home health care; Hospitalization; Human capital; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical - economics; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical - prevention & control; Maternal Health Services; Mothers; Multiplier; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - economics; Productivity; Rural communities; Rural Population; Urban Population; Welfare; Women; Ethiopia; United States > US; HIV-positive pregnant women; urban and rural settings; PMTCT service; productivity losses; human capital approach; Ethiopia
• ISSN: 1354-8506; 1465-3966
• DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2017.1360469

HIV/AIDS impacts significantly on pregnant women and on children in Ethiopia. This impact has a multiplier effect on household economies and on productivity losses, and is expected to vary across rural and urban settings. Applying the human capital approach to data collected from 131 respondents, this study estimated productivity losses per HIV-positive pregnant woman-infant pair across urban and rural health facilities in Ethiopia, which in turn were used to estimate the national productivity loss. The study found that the annual productivity loss per woman-infant pair was Ethiopian birr (ETB) 7,433 or United States dollar (US$) 378 and ETB 625 (US$ 32) in urban and rural settings, respectively. The mean patient days lost per year due to inpatient admission at hospitals/health centres was 11 in urban and 22 in rural health facilities. On average, urban home care-givers spent 20 (SD = 21) days annually providing home care services, while their rural counterparts spent 23 days (SD = 26). The productivity loss accounted for 16% and 7% of household income in urban and rural settings, respectively. These high and varying productivity losses require preventive interventions that are appropriate to each setting to ensure the welfare of women and children in Ethiopia.