Inpatient household economic burden of child malnutrition in Zimbabwe : a case study conducted at Harare Central hospital
Severe acute malnutrition is one of the leading underlying causes of mortality in children under the age of five years. Nearly one to two million child deaths worldwide can be attributable to this illness. Although it is considered to be a global public health issue, severe acute malnutrition imposes an uneven burden on health resources across the world, with low-income countries shouldering much of this burden. Like any illness, severe acute malnutrition imposes an economic burden on households that, if significantly large could result in the impoverishment of households. However, despite the existence of a large volume of literature on the intergenerational economic consequences of malnutrition, little is known about the short term household economic consequences of malnutrition. This mini-dissertation sets out to estimate the household economic burden imposed by severe acute malnutrition in children under the age of 5 years in Zimbabwe. Furthermore, it aims to investigate and evaluate household responses to the economic consequences of malnutrition and the effect of the responses on household economic welfare.
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