Tuberculosis
-
33% of the
world’s population infected by TB
-
5-10% of
infected become sick with TB at some time
-
8 million
people become sick with TB, annually
-
2 million
people killed annually by TB
-
Over 250,000
children die of TB, annually
Malaria
-
40% of the
world’s population are at risk
-
300 million
cases of acute illness, annually
-
1 million
deaths, annually
-
2 million
cases per year in India
-
1000 deaths
per year in India
WHO,
through its
Global Burden of Disease Project
provides comprehensive information on diseases at the global,
regional and national levels and the
publication,
"Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors", is
a comprehensive, scientific study on this topic. It discusses
measurements methods, information on recent work, and an assessment
of trends for total mortality and major causes of death amongst
children below five years of age.
The Economic Burden of Disease is
a well-accepted concept for determining the economic costs that
are directly or indirectly attributable to a disease. Direct
costs are normally attributable to expenditure on
hospitalization, expenditure on drugs, physician consultation,
capital infrastructure for health-care, etc. Indirect costs
attempt to measure loss of economic opportunity due to illness,
disability and mortality costs.
According to estimates, the annual
economic burden of Tuberculosis in India is in the region of $1
billion. The economic burden of Malaria is considered far more
difficult to calculate as Malaria could result in multiple
episodes for the population affected by the disease.
Thus, any improvement in the
delivery of health-care services through better surveillance,
improved response times and increased coverage is likely to have
a significant positive impact on the reduction of this economic
burden of disease.
