Abstract
To assess the treatment pattern and expenditure incurred by cancer patients undergoing treatment at government tertiary hospitals in India. A cross-sectional study of 508 cancer patients randomly selected from tertiary cancer hospitals funded by central/state governments located in major cities of five states in India, namely Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Mizoram, during March - May 2011 was conducted. Information related to direct costs, indirect costs and opportunity costs incurred on investigations and treatment, major source of payment and difficulties faced by patients during the course of treatment was collected. About 45% of the patients used private health facilities as the first point of contact for cancer related diseases as against 32% in public hospitals. About 47% sought private health facilities for cancer investigations, 21% at district/sub-district hospitals, and about 4% contacted primary health care facilities. A majority of the patients (76%) faced financial problems while undergoing treatment. The results highlight the importance of involving the primary health care system in the cancer prevention activities.
Highlights
Cancer is the second leading cause of death and disability around the world
Information related to direct costs, indirect costs and opportunity costs incurred on investigations and treatment, major source of payment and difficulties faced by patients during the course of treatment was collected
This was a cross-sectional study conducted among cancer patients who were availing investigations and treatment in tertiary hospitals of the Government located in five major cities in India namely; Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Bikaner (Rajasthan), Kolkata (West Bengal) and Aizawl (Mizoram) during March 2011 – May 2011
Summary
Cancer is the second leading cause of death and disability around the world. More number of people die of cancer than from all cases of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria put together. A study, conducted in 2006-07 by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) which is super-speciality government hospital in India aimed at estimating the costs of treatment borne by cancer patients and family during the course of radiotherapy found that the average cost across all treatment plans is Rs. 1,062 per week.
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