COST INCURRED AND SOURCE OF FINANCE FOR THE TREATMENT OF INFERTILITY

The cost of illness is dependent on many variables. These include the type of disease, the number and severity of complications as well as the demographic characteristics of the study population. In a heterogeneous society like India, with great disparity in earning, access to medical care, as well as, differing quality of care, it is very crucial that all factors are taken into account to get the correct picture. The lack of medical records makes it even more difficult to carry out such studies (Kapur, A., 2001). Direct economic costs of disease are those generated by the resources used in treating or coping with a disease, including expenditure for medical care and the treatment of the illness (hospital care, physician services, nursing home care, drugs and other medical needs). These direct costs are often easily measured by surveys and studies. Recently, researchers have also advocated the inclusion of direct non-medical costs, including the transportation costs of patients and costs of care-giving by family members (Sam K. G. et al., 2009)