The economic burden of illness and health care in India: analysis of household survey data

For poor households in developing countries, the incidence of illness imposes two types of costs on the family: the cost of medical care to diagnose and treat the disease, and the loss of income due to reduced working hours. Empirical studies have shown that very high healthcare expenditure is enough to bring many households into a period of great vulnerability. However, the scope of existing studies is limited to provide local-level evidence of this economic burden, exclusion and coping strategies to deal with these high healthcare costs. This research project was an attempt to reduce the research gap by generating evidence of this economic weight at the local level. In addition to increasing understanding of the vulnerability of these households due to disease and high cost of health care, the evidence generated by this research would help policy makers formulate more effective interventions to reduce economic burden, the vulnerability and exclusion of these people.