Free hospitalization for acute respiratory infections in children: what effect and how much does it cost for Armenia?

Introduction: The "Child Certificate" program, launched in Armenia in 2011, made hospitalization for children less than seven years free in order to improve access to hospitalization, reduce out-of-pocket expenses and ensure Universal Health Coverage. We aimed to estimate trends in the number of outpatient and hospitalized acute respiratory infection (ARI) cases and related under-five mortality.

Methodology: Cross-sectional study using data from national databases before (2008-2011) and after (2012-2017) Program implementation.