Median direct costs ranged from USD 2.10 per patient for treatment initiation to USD 43.40 per patient for intensive treatment. Pre-diagnosis and intensive treatment showed the highest median costs in both regions. Rural residents also incurred high burden during diagnosis stage.n1 = number of patients with direct cost >0 per stage; n2 = number of patients respectively who went through up to the intensive treatment stage (245), and who went through the entire care pathway (153).The median (iqr) share of overall direct cost across stages by region was: 44.0% (14.1–67.6) for pre-diagnosis, 8.5% (4.3–19.3) for diagnosis, 1.1% (0.4–2.9) for treatment initiation, 30.2% (16.2–49.8) for intensive treatment and 15.4% (2.0–29.5) for continuation treatment among urban residents, and respectively 32.1% (14.1–51.7), 27.3% (11.4–52.4), 2.2% (0.9–5.7), 22.2% (13.2–41.3) and 8.6% (3.4–22.7) among rural residents.Distributions of proportion significantly different across region (P<0.05).