Estimation of Potential Social Support Requirement for Tuberculosis Patients in India

Providing social support to tuberculosis (TB) patients is a recommended strategy as households having TB patients find themselves in a spiral of poverty because of high cost, huge income loss and several other economic consequences associated with TB treatment. However, there are few examples of social support globally. The Indian government introduced “Nikshay Poshan Yojana” scheme in 2018 to provide nutritional support for all registered TB patients. Financial incentive of Indian Rupee (INR) 500 (US$6) per month was proposed to be transferred directly to the registered beneficiaries’ validated bank accounts. We examined the reach, timing, amount of benefit receipt, and the extent to which the benefit alleviated catastrophic costs (used as a proxy to measure the impact on permanent economic welfare as catastrophic cost is the level of cost that is likely to result in a permanent negative economic impact on households) by interviewing 1482 adult drug-susceptible TB patients from 16 districts of four states during 2019 to 2023, using the methods recommended by the World Health Organisation for estimating household costs of TB nationally. We also estimated the potential amount of social support required to achieve a zero catastrophic cost target. At the end of treatment, 31%-54% study participants received the benefit. 34%-60% of TB patients experienced catastrophic costs using different estimation methods and the benefit helped 2% study participants to remain below the catastrophic cost threshold. A uniform benefit amount of INR 10000 (US$127) for 6 months of treatment could reduce the incidence of catastrophic costs by 43%. To improve economic welfare of TB patients, levels of benefit need to be substantially increased which will have considerable budgetary impact on the TB programme. Hence, a targeted rather than universal approach may be considered. To maximise impact, at least half of the revised amount should be given immediately after treatment registration.