In India, Diabetes Takes One-Third of Family Income from Poor
February 06, 2007
Digg This! | Send to Newsvine | Add to del.icio.usFebruary 6, 2007 (ADA) - The economic burden of diabetes in developing countries has risen substantially over the past decade, as the prevalence of this potentially fatal and often debilitating disease has also grown worldwide.
In India, which lacks a comprehensive health care system, the direct cost of diabetes has doubled since 1998, as it has in the United States. However, the economic burden upon low-incomes families is much higher in developing countries such as India, where reimbursement for care is low to nonexistent.
In India, poor urban families spend as much as 34 percent of their total income treating diabetes and its complications; the rural poor don’t fare much better, spending up to 27 percent of their income on health-related costs due to diabetes.
Not surprisingly, the economic burden for families grew along with the duration of their diabetes and the number of complications they developed.
To reach lead researcher Dr. Ambady Ramachandran, Ph.D., MD, Director, Diabetes Research Center, M.V. Hospital for Diabetes & WHO Collaborating Centre for Research, Education & Training in Diabetes, email: ramachandran@vsnl.com.
Posted by dlife at February 6, 2007 11:35 AM