October 2, 2024—Reducing preventable deaths from major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries around the world would come with substantial economic savings, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study was published Sept. 27 in Nature Medicine. Stéphane Verguet, associate professor of global health, was corresponding author.
According to the researchers, as the global population ages rapidly, national governments face increasingly tough resource allocation decisions regarding the health sector. To provide a framework to help policymakers with these decisions, the researchers used data from the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank to estimate the economic value of reducing avoidable deaths caused by an NCD or injury in 2000, 2019, and, projecting ahead, 2050. They examined 31 major injury and chronic disease areas, such as cancers and cardiovascular disease, in three geographic regions: Eurasia and the Mediterranean, Latin America and the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa. India, China, and high-income countries were also considered separately.
Among its many findings, the study found that the economic value of reducing avoidable deaths from cardiovascular disease would be between 2 and 8% of annual income in 2019 in any region of the world. In addition, the economic value of reducing avoidable mortality from cancers would be large in high-income countries and China, around 5% of annual income in 2019; and the economic value of reducing avoidable mortality from injuries would be large in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, around 5% of annual income in 2019.
According to the researchers, the findings point to the urgent necessity of cost-effective public health interventions to control and prevent NCDs and injuries.
Read the study: The economic value of reducing mortality due to noncommunicable diseases and injuries
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