The paper quantifies the economic burden of illness due to wage loss and medical care spending, as well as differences in them across the socio-economic distribution. The study used data from Village Dynamics in South Asia (VDSA) survey and the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS) and found wide variations across the socio-economic distribution.
Among the poorest households, wage loss due to illness is roughly 15% of total household spending – nearly three times greater than medical spending. Alternatively, among the most affluent households, wage loss is less than 5% of total household spending – and only one-third of medical spending.
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