Around 61 percent of people in the country face financial difficulties while seeking medical services in hospitals, according to a new study by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

On average, a family has to spend around Tk 55,134 when a family member is admitted to the hospital and about 54 percent of this cost is spent on medicines, the BIDS study found.

The study findings were shared at a seminar at the BIDS auditorium in the capital yesterday.

The study, titled "Catastrophic Health Shock and Impoverishment in Bangladesh: Insights from HIES 2022," showed that due to out-of-pocket payments, around 3.7 percent of the population, which is equivalent to 6.13 million people, were pushed below the national poverty line in 2022.

The data for the study were obtained from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2022. Household characteristics, out-of-pocket payments for healthcare, and detailed household consumption expenditures of 14,000 households were analysed for the survey.

Medicine costs are the major costs both for hospitalised patients and outpatients, it said.

Of the people who suffered financial difficulties while seeking treatment, 26.83 percent borrowed money, 18.77 percent took help from friends and relatives, and 15.53 percent sold their assets.

Besides, 32.58 percent of people broke their savings to get hospital services and 6.29 percent paid hospital expenses from their regular earnings, the research findings showed.

Most healthcare costs in Bangladesh come directly from people's pockets, as out-of-pocket payments accounted for 55 percent of the country's healthcare costs in 1997, which will increase to 68 percent in 2020, according to Bangladesh National Health Accounts.

Out-of-pocket health expenditures rose to 73 percent in 2021, according to the Global Health Expenditure Database.

Hospitalisation costs trigger high out-of-pocket expenditure in both communicable and non-communicable diseases, the BIDS study said.

Presenting the research findings, Abdur Razzak Sarkar, research fellow at BIDS, said, "Due to the increase in medical costs in the country, many families who live below the poverty line often become destitute. Many people are deprived of health care due to a lack of money."

Speaking as chief guest, Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen said, "We are working on government-based health insurance. We will launch it soon, though it will take time."

When the health insurance is introduced, out-of-pocket expenses will also be reduced, he added.