Health treatment costs of rural households in Bangladesh

Many people in low-middle-income countries depend on household for health treatment cost. In Bangladesh, in the absence of a functional health insurance market, and a lack of coverage by existing health insurance schemes, most costs people bear are out-of-pocket. Therefore, understanding the economic burden of health treatment cost on households in Bangladesh is important. This is a relatively unexplored policy issue in Bangladesh. The aim of this study was to reveal treatment costs and socio economic pattern in a rural setting of Bangladesh. A descriptive type of cross-sectional study was conducted on 184 villagers of Satgar village at Lohagara sub district of Chittagong district. Data were collected by face to face interview using a pretested questionnaire. The survey revealed that 16.67% of upper class respondents spent above BDT 3600 while 92.31% of lower class respondents spent a marginal amount of money. The poor respondents spent 15-20% of their monthly household income on treatment more than any other socioeconomic groups. The study reflected that treatment costs are significant burdens on the villagers. Providing affordable primary health care services as well as spreading awareness among the villagers can play an important role in securing their financial solvency.