Peer-reviewed article
Economics of primary healthcare: cost estimation of clinical services at primary care facilities in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Elmusharaf K, Poix S, Grafton D, Jung JS, Gribble R et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study estimates the costs of delivering primary healthcare services across six Gulf Cooperation Council countries in 2019. The research analysed spending on eight service categories including immunisation, non-communicable diseases, child health, and nutrition. The total estimated cost was US$5.7 billion, with general practice and NCD programmes accounting for 79% of spending. The study found significant gaps in service coverage, particularly for NCD screening and mental health services.
Key points
- Total cost of PHC services across six GCC countries was US$5.7 billion in 2019
- Per capita costs ranged from US$69 to US$272 across the region
- General practice and NCD programmes represented 79% of total modelled costs
- Over 8 million individuals did not receive NCD screening services
- Over 30 million individuals did not receive needed mental health services
Limitations
This is a cost estimation study that does not evaluate the effectiveness or outcomes of healthcare interventions or their impact on child health. It focuses on economic analysis of service delivery rather than health impacts for children specifically.
Abstract
Objective While the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have demonstrated a strong commitment to strengthening primary healthcare (PHC), the costs of delivering these services in this region remain relatively unexplored. Understanding the costs of PHC delivery is essential for effective resource allocation and health system efficiency. Design We used an ingredient-based method to estimate the cost of delivering a selection of services at PHC facilities in the six GCC countries in 2019. Services were categorised into eight programmes: immunisation; non-communicable diseases (NCDs); oral and dental care; child health; nutrition; mental health; reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health and general practice. The cost estimation focused on two key ingredients: the costs of drugs and supplies and the healthcare workforce cost. The coverage rates of specific types of health services, including screening and mental health services, were also estimated. Data for the analysis were obtained from ministries of health, health statistics reports, online databases, national surveys and scientific literature. Results The estimated costs of delivering the selected services at public PHC facilities in the six GCC countries totalled US$5.7 billion in 2019, representing 0.34% of the combined 2019 GDP. The per capita costs varied from US$69 to US$272. General practice and NCD programmes constituted 79% of the total costs modelled while mental health ranged between 0.0% and 0.3%. Over 8 million individuals did not receive NCD screening services, and over 30 million did not receive needed mental health services in public PHC facilities across the region. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study to estimate the costs of services delivered at PHC facilities in the GCC countries. Identifying the main cost drivers and the services which individuals did not receive can be used to help strengthen PHC to improve efficiency and scale up needed services for better health outcomes.