Caesarian deliveries incur huge cost in childbirth in the country, says a recent icddr,b study, revealing that C-section deliveries took an average US$ 250 out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure as a normal delivery burden on the pocket is only around US$ 60. The study posted on icddr,b website indicates that the cases of such lopsided OOP cost for C-section deliveries may be rising because C-section rate has gone as high as 31 percent in Bangladesh in recent years. This rate is well over the WHO standards whis is 10 to 15 percent and icddr,b researchers have earlier urged to implement effective national monitoring on C-section deliveries.
The data was found as over 4,500 delivery cases were analysed, based on Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014 data coupled with a cross-sectional survey on child delivery-related expenditure. In order to minimise child delivery-associated cost, the study suggests introducing social health insurance in line with the core objective of the Healthcare Financing Strategy of Bangladesh.
