MUMBAI, May 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 85 percent of the three-wheeler auto drivers in India's financial capital Mumbai are addicted to tobacco and 45 percent of them were found to have precancerous lesions - an indication towards cancer.

Those with precancerous lesion had conditions such as Plakia, Sub Mucous Fibrosis, Biopsy, FNAC among others, said Anita Peter, executive director of Cancer Patients Aid Association, a non-government organization.

The outcome was part of the survey conducted by the association across 3,000 auto drivers through cancer screening camps held at five locations in the city over a five-month period.

In India, the average expenditure in private hospitals for cancer patients is three times that of public hospitals, according to a study conducted last year.

Moreover, treatment for about 40 percent of cancer hospitalization cases is financed mainly through borrowings, sale of assets and contributions from friends and relatives.

Also, over 60 percent of the households who seek care from the private sector incur out of pocket expenditure in excess of 20 percent of their annual per capita household expenditure, the study said.