Economic burden of malaria in children under the age of five in Burundi

Malaria management imposes a substantial economic burden on households and the health system, particularly when requiring hospital admission. The household costs for a single malaria episode were equivalent to 44% of an individual's income for a month, while the health system costs per episode were nearly half the current government health expenditure per capita. Considering that some children will have multiple episodes per year, these are substantial costs. Further investment in preventive strategies and the introduction of new interventions, such as vaccines, could release government health resources for other diseases while enabling economic growth for households.