New Delhi: Nearly three-fourths of households with breast cancer patients had to borrow money or sell assets to cover treatment costs, according to a study of patients at a leading cancer hospital.The study, which tracked 500 breast cancer patients treated at Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Mumbai from June 2019 to March 2022, found that 84.2% of households faced catastrophic health expenditure. This expenditure led to a significant modification of their monthly consumption spending.Additionally, 72% of households were estimated to have resorted to “distress financing”, involving selling assets or borrowing loans to meet the treatment costs.The study conducted by researchers at the International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, suggested that including direct non-medical costs, such as accommodation, food, and travel for patients and accompanying persons, in the reimbursement scope for breast cancer treatment could reduce catastrophic health expenditure. They also proposed the establishment of more city-specific cancer care centres.The study was published on July 23 in the International Journal for Equity and Health.Around 75% of the patients had some form of reimbursement, which ranged from health insurance, employee health schemes and assistance from charitable trusts. However, it reduced the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure by only 13.8%.Further, it found that 78% of the patients had to meet their treatment costs by using multiple sources. “A mere 5.8% of the patients used income as one of the sources for covering treatment cost, 48.6% used savings, 66.6% had resorted to loans & borrowings and 72.4% had either sold assets or borrowed to finance the cost of treatment,” said the study.
