Cancer care in India, especially for the lower and middle classes, can turn out to be a nightmare. While treatment protocols, and consequent costs vary across a broad range, depending upon the site of cancer and the stage at which it is detected, oncologists attest that it can be a huge drain on the resources of a family.

With heavy out-of-pocket health expenditures being chronicled reliably at the national level, and a relatively low percentage of the population going in for health insurance, much of the money spent should come from the people themselves. The Commission on Macroeconomic and Health Financing of Health in India in its report noted that it is disquieting nearly 70 per cent of the total health expenditure in India comes from households, while around 25 per cent is financed by the Central, State and local governments.

Though elaborate costing studies to specifically calculate direct and indirect expenses of cancer are not available in the public domain, it is through a process of deduction (from out-of-pocket expenses), and evidence that is, by and large, empirical and anecdotal that doctors use to comment about costs involved in cancer care.......Read More

Source: The Hindu