The cost of treating selected psychiatric conditions from the provider’s perspective in a public tertiary academic hospital in South Africa

Background and objectives Psychiatric disorders share the chronicity and lifelong treatment burden that make the major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) costly to health systems, yet remain comparatively under-costed within the Sub-Saharan African literature on chronic disease burden. Determining the direct costs of treating psychiatric disorders in resource limited settings is important for budget allocation, particularly as South Africa moves towards the National Health Insurance (NHI) fund system. The study aimed to determine the costs of psychiatric outpatient care at a public tertiary hosp