Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases and the Economy

There is no question that chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) pose the single, greatest sustained threat to the stability of health systems worldwide. While undoubtedly the main dimension of the CNCDs challenge is in respect of the health and well-being of the population, it is becoming increasingly obvious that CNCDs are also posing a serious challenge to economies. Health system costs are increasing faster than national income in almost all nations and the main cause is the growing incidence of CNCDs and the diverse spill-over effects. The concern is that if this continues, there will come a time when the economic system will simply no longer be capable of coping with the burden of the CNCDs. In these circumstances the economist has two major concerns. The first is to understand and explain how CNCDs affect the functioning of the economic system. It is argued that while the analysis will necessarily begin on the qualitative level, for policy purposes it must also be taken to the quantitative level. The second major concern of the economist is to understand and explain how the working of the economy influences the incidence of CNCDs in particular countries. The author suggests that at a time when the prevention and management of CNCDs are high on the agenda of many nations, it is important to know whether the measures being taken to improve human development and economic well-being are themselves contributing to an increasing incidence of CNCDs particularly in small, vulnerable, open economies. In this regard, this paper briefly explains how CNCDs affect the economic system and presents some of the estimates of quantitative impact on the economy