Abdur Razzaque Sarker

Willingness-to-pay for community-based health insurance among informal workers in urban Bangladesh

Introduction Reliance on out-of-pocket payment for healthcare may lead poor households to undertake catastrophic health expenditure, and risk-pooling mechanisms have been recommended to mitigate such burdens for households in Bangladesh. About 88% of the population of Bangladesh depends on work in the informal sector. We aimed to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for CBHI and identify its determinants among three categories of urban informal workers rickshaw-pullers, shopkeepers and restaurant workers. Methods The bidding game version of contingent valuation method was used to estimate weekly WTP. In three urban locations 557 workers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire during 2010 and 2011. Multiple-regression analysis was used to predict WTP by demographic and household characteristics, occupation, education level and past illness. Results WTP for a CBHI scheme was expressed by 86.7% of informal workers. Weekly average WTP was 22.8 BDT [Bangladeshi Taka; 95% confidence interval (CI) 20.9–24.8] or 0.32 USD and varied significantly across occupational groups (p = 0.000) and locations (p = 0.003). WTP was highest among rickshaw-pullers (28.2 BDT or 0.40 USD; 95% CI: 24.7–31.7), followed by restaurant workers (20.4 BDT 0.29 USD; 95% CI: 17.0–23.8) and shopkeepers (19.2 BDT or 0.27 USD; 95% CI: 16.1–22.4). Multiple regression analysis identified monthly income, occupation, geographical location and educational level as the key determinants of WTP. WTP increased 0.196% with each 1% increase in monthly income, and was 26.9% lower among workers with up to a primary level of education versus those with higher than primary, but less than one year of education. Conclusion Informal workers in urban areas thus are willing to pay for CBHI and socioeconomic differences explain the magnitude of WTP. The policy maker might think introducing community-based model including public-community partnership model for healthcare financing of informal workers. Decision making regarding the implementation of such schemes should consider worker location and occupation.

Prevalence and health care–seeking behavior for childhood diarrheal disease in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the burden of diarrheal diseases is significant among children <5 years old. The objective of this study is to capture the prevalence of and health care–seeking behavior for childhood diarrheal diseases (CDDs) and to identify the factors associated with CDDs at a population level in Bangladesh. We use a logistic regression approach to model careseeking based on individual characteristics. The overall diarrhea prevalence among children <5 years old was found to be 5.71%. Some factors found to significantly influence the health care–seeking pattern were age and sex of the children, nutritional score, age and education of mothers, wealth index, and access to electronic media. The health care service could be improved through working in partnership with public facilities, private health care practitioners, and community-based organizations, so that all strata of the population get equitable access in cases of childhood diarrhoea.

The impact of age and sex on healthcare expenditure of households in Bangladesh

The impact of age and sex on health care expenditure has recently become one of the major concerns in many developing countries like Bangladesh. Age and sex differences in the use of health care services can be substantial at several stages of life which are reflected in overall healthcare expenditure.We examined the impact of age and sex of the population on overall healthcare expenditure of households in Bangladesh.A total of 10,705 populations who spent for receiving any type of healthcare services were analyzed from Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey data, 2010. Sex and age group were considered as childhood (0–19), young adult (20–39), middle-aged adult (40–64), senior aged (65–84) and old senior aged (84+) for the entire analysis. Total healthcare expenditure was derived by considering direct cost such as physician’s fee, cost of medicine, diagnostic, transportation, tips and informal payment etc. Indirect and intangible cost was not considered in the analysis.The study found that overall health care expenditure of male (US

Distribution and Determinants of Low Birth Weight in Developing Countries

11.5) is higher than female (US

Distribution and Determinants of Out-of-pocket Healthcare Expenditures in Bangladesh

11.2) while this is higher for female (US

Cost-effectiveness analysis of introducing universal childhood rotavirus vaccination in Bangladesh

14.2) than male (US

Adverse Selection in Community Based Health Insurance among Informal Workers in Bangladesh: An EQ-5D Assessment

11.3) in the reproductive age. The highest health expenditure was observed in male (US

Economic costs of hospitalized diarrheal disease in Bangladesh: a societal perspective

69.7) of age 65–69 years and in female (US

Determinants of enrollment of informal sector workers in cooperative based health scheme in Bangladesh

23.4) of age 75–79 years. The cost for hospitalization was significantly higher (US

Health and economic burden of diabetes in Bangladesh: Priorities for attention and control

23.7) for female than male (US