High burn burden in India, 25k deaths/yr: Study

Living With Stigma Study aims to assess stigma faced by burn patients in hospitals and healthcare settings.

- KAVITA BAJELI-DATT @New Delhi

INDIA faces a high burn burden with an estimated 2.1 million people suffering from injuries, 25,000 deaths, and 1.4 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) annually.

What is worrying is that the burn survivors not only face increased societal stigma in the form of bullying, staring, teasing, mocking, degradation, and labelling, but also witness daily discrimination at Indian healthcare institutions and from healthcare providers (HCPs), a latest study has said.

This lack of empathy from healthcare professionals leaves them in emotional, physical, and psychological damage, particularly for patients with visible disfigurements or disability and those from underprivileged backgrounds, it said.

The study is the first of its kind globally which aims explicitly to assess stigma faced by burn patients in hospitals and healthcare settings.