The Economic Cost of Rising Non-communicable Diseases in India: A Systematic Literature Review of Methods and Estimates

Background and Objectives

India has one of the world’s highest proportions of out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) payments. The low share of public health expenditure coupled with the double burden of disease (communicable and non-communicable) has a direct financial impact on individual OOPE and an indirect impact in the form of decreasing life expectancy, reduced productivity, and hence a negative impact on economic growth. This systematic review aims to compare and assess the estimated economic cost of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India and ascertain the methods used to derive these estimates.

Methods

This paper reviews the past 12-year (2010–22) literature on the economic impact of health shocks due to NCDs. Three databases were searched for the literature: PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Thematic analysis has been performed to analyse the findings of the study.

Results

The OOPE was very high for NCDs. The increasing cost was high and unaffordable, pushing many people into financial distress measured by catastrophic payments and rising impoverishment.

Conclusion

The results indicate both the direct and indirect impact of NCDs, but the indirect burden of loss of employment and productivity, despite its relevance, has been less studied in the literature. A robust economic analysis will allow an evidence-based policy decision perspective to reduce the rising burden of NCDs.