Financial Burden of Household Out-of-Pocket Payment for Reproductive Health Care in Vietnam: A Study from 3 Northern Provinces in Vietnam

Tóm tắt

Introduction: This paper aims to describe the pattern of out-of-pocket payment (OOP) for reproductive health care among women who had a child of less than 12 months of age in three Northern provinces Vietnam and examine its financial burden to households of the study subjects. Methods: This study was conducted in 3 Northern provinces. 2000 women having a child of less than 12 months of age were interviewed. Results: 13.6% of the households were pushed into poverty due to the out-of-pocket payment for reproductive health care in the last 12 months. Ethnic minority and near-poor households had higher risk of being impoverished due to the out-of-pocket payment for reproductive health care. Health insurance was shown to have financial protection impacts for reproductive health. Conclusion: Household out-of-pocket payment for reproductive health care is considered as a major impediment to achieving poverty reduction and the Universal Coverage of reproductive health care in Vietnam.