Economic burden of respiratory illness in rural Uttar Pradesh, India

This paper estimates the economic burden of respiratory illness in rural UP (Uttar Pradesh), a state in North India. This is based on a large comprehensive survey covering a sample of 7564 households in 6 districts and 51 villages in UP. The economic value of the days lost due to illness in one month is 4233 million rupees. Cleaner fuels, health education and better health care can avoid some of these expenditures.