Pretreatment Out-of-Pocket Expenses for Presumptive Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Patients, India, 2016–2017

Abstract

In India, under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, the government provides free treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis; however, many patients seek care elsewhere, which is costly. To determine those out-of-pocket expenses, we interviewed 40 presumptive patients and found that they spent more than their median annual income before registering for the government program.

Keywords

• Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
• MDR TB
• tuberculosis and other mycobacteria
• presumptive MDR TB
• direct cost
• indirect cost