{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,22]],"date-time":"2026-01-22T17:17:52Z","timestamp":1769102272968,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Leprosy and podoconiosis (podo) are neglected tropical diseases that cause severe disfigurement and disability, and may lead to catastrophic health expenditure and hinder economic development of affected persons and households. This study compared economic costs of both diseases on affected households with unaffected neighboring households in the Northwest Region (N.W.R.) of Cameroon. A matched comparative cross-sectional design was used enrolling 170 households (43 podo case households, 41 podo control households, 43 leprosy case households, and 43 leprosy control households) from three health districts in the N.W.R. Direct treatment costs for podo averaged 142 United State dollar (USD), compared with zero for leprosy (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.001). This was also reflected in the proportion of annual household income consumed (0.4 versus 0.0, respectively, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &lt; 0.001). Both diseases caused considerable reductions in working days (leprosy 115 versus podo 135 days. <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> for comparison &lt; 0.001). The average household income was considerably lower in podo-affected households than unaffected households (410 versus 913 USD, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.01), whereas income of leprosy-affected households was comparable to unaffected households (329 versus 399 USD, <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> = 0.23). Both leprosy and podo cause financial burdens on affected households, but those on podo-affected families are much greater. These burdens occur through direct treatment costs and reduced ability to work. Improved access to public health interventions for podo including prevention, morbidity management and disability prevention are likely to result in economic returns to affected families. In Cameroon, one approach to this would be through subsidized health insurance for these economically vulnerable households.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.17-0931","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,2,20]],"date-time":"2018-02-20T07:04:15Z","timestamp":1519110255000},"page":"1075-1081","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["A Comparative Analysis of Economic Cost of Podoconiosis and Leprosy on Affected Households in the Northwest Region of Cameroon"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"98","author":[{"given":"Ayok M.","family":"Tembei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon;"},{"name":"Research Foundation in Tropical Diseases and Environment, Buea, Cameroon;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jonas A.","family":"Kengne-Ouaffo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon;"},{"name":"Research Foundation in Tropical Diseases and Environment, Buea, Cameroon;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elvis A.","family":"Ngoh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon;"},{"name":"Research Foundation in Tropical Diseases and Environment, Buea, Cameroon;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bonekeh","family":"John","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mbebah Vigilantic Farming and Development Association in Ndop, Ngokutunja Sub-division of the North West Region, Ndop, Cameroon;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Theobald M.","family":"Nji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Foundation in Tropical Diseases and Environment, Buea, Cameroon;"},{"name":"Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kebede","family":"Deribe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wellcome Trust Centre for Global Health Research, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom;"},{"name":"School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Enyong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Foundation in Tropical Diseases and Environment, Buea, Cameroon;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Theresa","family":"Nkuo-Akenji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gail","family":"Davey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Wellcome Trust Centre for Global Health Research, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, United Kingdom;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Samuel","family":"Wanji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon;"},{"name":"Research Foundation in Tropical Diseases and Environment, Buea, Cameroon;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"2795","reference":[{"key":"b1","series-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis","first-page":"e412","article-title":"Neglected tropical diseases in sub-Saharan Africa: review of their prevalence, distribution and disease burden","volume":"3","author":"Hotez","year":"2009"},{"key":"b2","series-title":"Q J 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