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Objectives: Palliative care involves providing symptomatic relief from the pain and stress of a severe illness to markedly improve the quality of life for both the patients and their families. It imposes high indirect costs on the patients. The study was conducted at SGPGIMS, which caters to 500 head-and-neck cancer patients annually. Out of these, 30--40% of cases require dedicated palliative care. Unfortunately, often, when patients reach the stage of palliative care, they have exhausted their all financial reserves. Therefore, a cost analysis of total cost incurred (including out-of-pocket expenditure and social cost) during palliative care in cases of head-and-neck cancer at a Government Regional Cancer Centre was undertaken. Material and Methods: The study is a descriptive study and the study sample consisted of (a) patients who had undergone surgery, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy and had recurred/relapsed and were now candidates for palliative care and (b) patients who presented de novo to the Regional Cancer Centre, SGPGIMS with advanced-stage disease, where the cure was not possible. The expenditure incurred was obtained retrospectively and prospectively from the study samples. Results: The out-of-pocket expenditure per patient per day was INR 2044.21. The social cost per patient per day was INR 518.21. Out of the total expenditure of INR 2562.42/patient/day, 80% of the cost was out-of-pocket expenditure and the remaining 20% was social cost borne by the patient. Conclusion: The study thus added to perspective on the average expenditure on out-of-pocket expenses and social costs being incurred as of date, while getting palliative care for head-and-neck cancer at a Regional Cancer Centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the study is to design and estimate water distribution network and underground drainage system for a residential layout of Vijayanagara 2nd stage of Mysore city using LOOP and SEWER software. The project area is 7.9 hectares consists of 353 sites. The water supply system is designed for this layout. The reliable source of water supply for this layout is mainly from Vanivilas water supply board. The present study provides estimation of overall cost of the project. The major cost components like pipe cost, manholes, laying of sewer pipe lines, are included in the analysis. Total cost of UGD for the layout is estimated to be (in 1000) ₹ 8817.56. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was carried out to estimate the cost of production of milk in crossbred cows farms of Tamil Nadu. The data was collected from 150 dairy farmers of Salem district. Conventional analysis in the form of percentages and averages were used to analyse the data. The results revealed that among the different categories of farmers the cost of production per litre of milk was the lowest in small farmers' category (Rs.8.73) and was the highest in large farmers' category (Rs.9.86). Among the components of total return from rearing crossbred cows, sale of milk was the significant factor with its contribution ranging from 95 to 98 per cent with the overall figure of 97.69 per cent. The return from sale of calves formed 1.12 cent of the total returns. The return from sale of manure and gunny bags contributed less significantly to the total returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the unit cost of curative care provided at Primary Health Centers (PHCs) and to examine the variation in unit cost in different PHCs. Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out in three PHCs of Ahmedabad district namely Sanathal, Nandej, and Uperdal, between 1 April, 2006 and 31 March, 2007. For estimating the cost of a health program, information on all the physical and human resources that were basic inputs to the PHC services were collected and grouped into two categories, non-recurrent (capital resources vehicles, buildings, etc.) and recurrent resources (salaries, drugs, vaccines, contraceptives, maintenance, etc.). To generate the required data, two types of schedules were developed, daily time schedule and PHC/SC (Subcenter) information schedule. Results: The unit cost of curative care was lowest (Rs. 29.43) for the Sanathal PHC and highest (Rs. 88.26) for the Uperdal PHC, followed by the Nandej PHC with Rs. 40.88, implying severe underutilization of curative care at the Uperdal PHC. Conclusions: Location of health facilities is a problem at many places. As relocation is not possible or even feasible, strengthening of infrastructure and facilities at these centers can be taken up immediately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]