PREVIEW: Top killer diseases will cost world 47 trillion dollars

By JT Nguyen Sep 18, 2011, 21:31 GMT

New York - For the first time ever, the UN General Assembly will tackle the issue of non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes and the threat they pose to global health.

On the eve of those discussions, the Swiss-based World Economic Forum on Sunday issued a report that tallies the costs of such diseases to the world's economy.

The study estimated that the price of such burgeoning illnesses will be an astounding 47 trillion dollars over the coming 20 years - or about 4 per cent of the world's gross domestic products.

'The need for immediate action is critical to the future of the global economy,' said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, which gathers world leaders once a year in Switzerland.

On Monday and Tuesday, government leaders meeting in New York are to work out a plan of action to prevent and control the diseases, some of them closely linked to globally rising rates of obesity. Experts noted that there are affordable solutions to the problems that need to be deployed.

Cancers, cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes, respiratory diseases and diabetes are top killers, causing 36 million deaths annually, said the study.

The World Health Organization says issues related to non-communicable diseases are becoming top priorities for governments because premature deaths reduce productivity, curtail economic growth, and cause significant social problems in most countries.

The study, entitled The Global Economic Burden of Non-communicable Diseases, analysed the overall costs of such diseases to the global economy. The findings showed that the estimated cumulative loss of output over the next 20 years represents approximately 4 per cent of annual global Gross Domestic Products, or 47 trillion dollars.

Top health risks like obesity, tobacco use and mental illness are closely linked to non-communicable illness and their costs are a part of the overall GDP loss to people and the world economy.

'Think of what could be achieved if these resources were productively invested in an area like education,' Schwab said.

The study also backed findings by the World Health Organization that deaths related to non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately high, at 80 per cent of deaths in the world in 2010. Deaths from chronic respiratory disease, cancer and diabetes in those countries are estimated to cause economic losses on an average of 500 billion dollars a year.

'Until now, we've been unable to put a figure on what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls the 'world's biggest killers',' said Olivier Raynaud, senior director of health at the World Economic Forum.

'This study shows that families, countries and economies are losing people in their most productive years. The numbers indicate that non-communicable diseases have the potential to not only bankrupt health systems but to also put a brake on the global economy,' Raynaud said.

The study said the cumulative losses will steadily increase in the next 20 years, with a sharp rise by 2030. The loss of personal income, living standards and expenses caused by high medical demands will also double for people struck by such illnesses between 2010 and 2030.

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