High medical bills push 100m into poverty every year: WHO

New Delhi: Nov 23, 2010

Illness and medical bills are pushing over 100 million people into poverty every year. In some countries, 5% of the population is forced into poverty every year because they have to pay for health services. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in countries like India, people who pay for their health care services suffer “catastrophic costs”. The report estimated that between 20% and 40% of all health expenditures is wasted due to inefficiency. Overpaying is a form of waste. For instance, in some places medicine prices are up to 67 times more than the international average price, grossly affecting expenditures for other health services.

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