School Of Public Health, College Of Health Sciences University Of Ghana, Legon

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a serious condition that increases the risk of ill health and shortens life through complications. The number is increasing globally due to lifestyle changes and diet leading to increasing levels of overweight and obesity. Management of DM poses economic burden to society, healthcare providers and sufferers. Costing study has been used for policy advocacy. It has been used to identify the burden of disease, areas for future intervention and priority setting in healthcare. OBJECTIVE: To determine the financial cost of diabetes management to Cocoa clinics for 2009. METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross-sectional study of diabetes management at the four Cocoa clinics in Ghana from May to July 2010 was conducted. The prevalencebased „Cost-of-illness‟ approach was employed. A pre-tested data extraction form was used to review the medical records of 304 diabetes patients that were randomly selected. RESULT: The mean age was 55.4 years. The proportion of Diabetes cases at OPD was 3.1%. The annual financial cost of managing one diabetes patient was estimated to be GH¢ 541.35 (US$ 373.34). Service cost constituted 21.7% whiles direct medical cost was 78.3%. Drug cost was 69.2% of the financial cost. The total financial cost of Diabetes management was estimated at GH¢ 420,087.67 (US$ 289,715.63). This accounted for 8% of the total expenditure for the Clinics in 2009 fiscal year. The study showed that facility type, type of diabetes and complications significantly increased the cost of Diabetes management to Cocoa clinics. CONCLUSION: Delay in diagnosing Diabetes and accompanying complications with cost implications requires public education to heighten awareness and reverse the vi progression of diabetes and associated cost. Prevalence rate for Type 2 diabetes was high due to increasing cases of obesity. Effective management protocols are also required to delay and prevent complications of diabetes such as cardiovascular diseases. Keywords: Diabetes, financial cost, Cocoa clinics, complication, Cost-of-illness, Ghana.