ECONOMIC BURDEN OF INFLUENZA-LIKE ILLNESS STUDY IN MONGOLIA 2021–22

Abstract

Seasonal influenza is one of the major public health threats to humans causing morbidity and mortality. Approximately 1280 influenza-like illness (ILI) and 140 Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) cases per 10,000 population get reported through sentinel surveillance in Mongolia. The evidence of the OOP and economic burden of ILI among risk groups (children below 5 years old, pregnant women, and older adults) is not clearly defined. We aimed to determine the economic burden on the population. This is a cost-of- illness study presenting findings as per episode. The WHO Manual is used to adapt questionnaires, analyze data, and present data from the societal perspective. A total of 2779 participants agreed to participate in the study. Amongst the participants, 1227 (44.2%) were children below 5 years old, 778 (28.0%) were people above 65 years, and 774 (27.9%) were pregnant women. Therefore, 1044 (38.1%) participants were hospitalized owing to SARI, and 1703 (61.9%) were outpatients at health centers. The ILI per episode cost was 19.65 (18.53 – 20.77) USD and 31.73 (29.20 – 34.26) USD in SARI episodes. The annual costs based on the per episode costs for ILI/SARI visits reported at the sentinel sites were approximately 11 million USD (10,9 mln – 11,5 mln) from ILI episodes and 2.8 million USD (2.6 mln – 3 mln) from SARI episodes. Despite the population impact, children below 5 years old had the highest direct cost and pregnant women had the highest indirect cost compared with the other risk groups. The economic burden of the illness affected low- income households adversely. Furthermore, near-poverty-class households were experiencing catastrophic healthcare costs owing to ILI and SARI episodes. These results will be used as part of the evidence to further study the cost-effectiveness of seasonal influenza in Mongolia to improve vaccination uptake and increase awareness of ILI/SARI prevention and treatment.