Abstract
Background:There is limited access to health services in Burundi, as most of the services such as cancer care are unavailable. Burundian citizen who can afford the costs involved in seeking treatment elsewhere are referred abroad. The purpose of this study was to assess the proportion of patients suffering from cancer among patients referred abroad for healthcare and to evaluate the costs incurred by those patients in relation to what the country would save by establishing cancer healthcare facilities.Methodology:The study was performed retrospectively from January 2016 to December 2018. With approval of Ministry of Public Health and AIDS control, the data was collected from medical reports at the general management of health facilities and AIDS control office. All patients with medical reports containing the reason for referral were included in the study. Medical reports assessing occupational disability were excluded. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).Results:Male, female and unclear was 45.3%, 39.9% and 14.8% respectively. Average age was 31,82. The main reason for referral was MRI (21.7%). Cancer patients represented 18% of all patients referred abroad for healthcare and the most common type of cancer found was breast (26.5%), genitourinary (15.7%) and digestive (14,2%). If all patients from 2016-2018 were referred to Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, India or Europe for 30 years, the country would spend in foreign currency US$3,858,229; US$638,342.80; US$21,288,592; US$10,410,192.90; US$54,718,329.70 respectively. Also, if all patients estimated by Globocan in 2018 were to be referred to these countries, the cost of foreign currencies would be US$52,455,122.60; US$38,264,740.88; US$129,272,590.40; US$81,330,325.94; US$276,601,008.02 respectively.Conclusion:There is a good number of cancer patients among patients referred abroad for health care. The estimated costs incurred by patients referred abroad for cancer care are far greater than funds needed to setup modern cancer care centres in Burundi.
Highlights
There is limited access to health services in Burundi, as most of the services such as cancer care are unavailable
Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Reason for Referral Patients were grouped into 3 groups; male, female and not clear
The results of this study can be used to estimate the rate of cancer among patients referred abroad for healthcare, to estimate the foreign currency expenses that the country could earn if cancer health care services were introduced in Burundi and can form a key advocacy for improving scope of health services offered in Burundi
Summary
There is limited access to health services in Burundi, as most of the services such as cancer care are unavailable. The purpose of this study was to assess the proportion of patients suffering from cancer among patients referred abroad for healthcare and to evaluate the costs incurred by those patients in relation to what the country would save by establishing cancer healthcare facilities. If all patients estimated by Globocan in 2018 were to be referred to these countries, the cost of foreign currencies would be US$52,455,122.60; US$38,264,740.88; US$129,272,590.40; US$81,330,325.94; US$276,601,008.02 respectively. The estimated costs incurred by patients referred abroad for cancer care are far greater than funds needed to setup modern cancer care centres in Burundi. In Burundi, the incidence of cancer was estimated to be 6,743; 8,682 and 7,929 new patients respectively for the year 2012, 2018 and 2020.2-4 this data is estimated using information from neighbouring countries since Burundi does not have a cancer incidence registry. Accessing pathological diagnosis and chemotherapy is problematic since there is only one pathologist for every 12 million people, 3 Computed Tomography (CT) scan, no Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and no chemotherapy in public facilities
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