Chronic disease: an economic perspective

This paper, by the Oxford Health Alliance, evaluates the economic impact of chronic diseases (heart and lung disease, cancer and diabetes), with a focus on low and middle income countries. It finds that chronic diseases and related risk factors impose a significant burden on poor people both across and within countries. Chronic diseases account for the largest share of overall mortality in all regions of the developing world except sub-Saharan Africa. It also finds that these diseases have economic consequences at the individual, family and economy wide level. It impacts on consumption and savings decisions, labour market performance and decisions about education and training.

The paper concludes that, given the health and social costs associated with chronic diseases, some interventions to reduce the incidence of disease are justified. Interventions include programmes to help people stop smoking; tobacco taxes; mass-media education campaigns to improve diet; and community-based physical activity programmes. The authors recommend that economic research on the impact of chronic disease in developing countries should be expanded and strengthened so that policies directed at reducing chronic diseases are more effective.