Published Paper Details:

HIV/AIDS is one of the major burdens of disease globally. HIV/AIDS is concentrated among adults of working age, unlike other diseases. Long-term illness due to HIV/AIDS demands a higher level of treatment costs for the HIV-affected households. Therefore, HIV/ AIDS causes depletion of savings and productive assets, and increases the indebtedness of the HIV-affected households. Moreover, the higher health care expenditure of the households reduces investment for nutritional food for the family members, investment for farming or business, and the education of the children. The financial coping mechanism for ill health plays an important role in the economic impact experienced by households. Household income and savings, sale of assets, loans, borrowing and removing children from school are the major coping strategies used by HIV affected household. Sale of productive assets like land, farm animals and farm equipment, directly affect the productivity of households within a short period, whilst loans, borrowing and removing children from school affect the productivity of households over a longer period. The financial coping strategies may solve the short-term problems of the HIV-affected households but may also reduce the economic capacity of the households in the long run, and risk pushing them into further poverty. Although the medicine costs and other associates related to treatment in the government hospitals in West Bengal is very minimal, the HIV affected households are still paying a considerable amount of money (relative to their incomes) for diagnostic tests, transportation, food. Therefore, the Government should make a policy for the affordable and accessible treatment of HIV/AIDS for everyone. It is recommended that the economic burden of HIV/ AIDS could be reduced by decentralising HIV/AIDS related services to district level and putting in place more comprehensive service delivery for HIV/AIDS care, support and treatment.