Coping with malnutrition related morbidity among children in india in the context of its financial burden

The present paper attempts to discover whether households- whose children under the age of five suffered from acute under-nutrition related ailments in India- are making catastrophic health payment with spatial and socioeconomic gradient, are vulnerable to poverty, and the percentage of vulnerable households to help the policy makers to target the needy segment through social protection. For this purpose, data collected by the National Sample Survey Organization (60th round) is used. The information on households’ expenditure, sources of financing are used where families spent for children’s major gastro-intestinal and febrile ailments during last one year preceding the survey and for minor spells of such ailments during last 15 days preceding the survey. Results indicate that fifty percent of rural poor, urban middle class households incurred catastrophic spending whose children were hospitalized for major gastro-intestinal disorders. Catastrophic spending where children had received treatment for minor gastro-intestinal disorders is higher among rural poorest. About 50 percent of rural and urban poorest households have incurred catastrophic payment after major febrile illness. More or less all the income groups have experienced consumption dispersion. Ninety percent of rural richer, 75 percent of rural poorest, 41 percent of urban middleclass are more vulnerable to future poverty after healthcare expenditure. The paper concludes that the identified household groups should be targeted to cover them under social insurance mechanism. Community initiatives would help distinctive groups because centralized scheme may not mitigate specific problems. Integration of health and nutrition service delivery at grass root level with proper monitoring is required for the target group.