Emerging economies lose up to 3% of GDP through chronic diseases

Chronic diseases are exacting an increasingly heavy toll on people's lives, accounting for 60% of deaths in the world. They also affect the quality of life for many, and weigh down on economic growth, says Craig Nossel, head of Vitality Wellness at Discovery.

Chronic diseases make up over half of the diseases in the world. Making matters worse is that developing countries are increasingly feeling the burden, which has negative implications for their often under-resourced health services. The World Health Organisation estimates that the cost of chronic disease accounts for 3% of GDP for developing countries.

Not surprisingly, the WHO set a global goal to reduce death rates from all chronic diseases by 2% per year resulting in the prevention of 36 million deaths by 2015.

Nossel points out that chronic diseases are no longer simply affecting the elderly although aging populations in many parts of the world are also increasing the burden. Nossel says the incidence of chronic illnesses among younger people is increasing, and this is especially prevalent in emerging economies like South Africa.

This affects the growth prospects of countries too, as chronic illnesses impact the more productive, younger sections of the population. If the WHO achieves its goal of reducing deaths through chronic illness, most of the gains will be in low and middle income countries - about half of these prevented deaths would be among people under 70 years.

Nossel says that most of these diseases can be prevented. "Poor nutrition, smoking and a lack of sufficient physical activity are the major causes of chronic illnesses, as they can contribute to the onset of heart disease, lung disease, diabetes and certain cancers."

According to the WHO, 4.9 million deaths can be attributed to smoking, while 7.1 million deaths are directly caused by high blood pressure; and 4.4 million to high cholesterol. Whats even more alarming is that lack of physical activity, low fruit and vegetable intake and obesity are high risk factors too 1.9 million deaths are caused by the lack of regular exercise, and close to 3 million people die because of poor nutrition and obesity.

All of these can be prevented or minimised by changing your behaviour, says Nossel. "It is important to note that these diseases develop over many years and that there is evidence linking conditions in early childhood to health in adult life," says Nossel. "In addition, poor health habits are often entrenched at a young age."

An extra challenge is the change in the global economy towards more service-oriented industries where workers are more likely to be desk-bound or sedentary. This is especially so in developed economies, but is also increasingly common in emerging economies like India, with its growing IT and call-centre sectors.

Nossel says this puts the focus on companies to pick up the baton and drive prevention of chronic diseases. "Companies are realising that chronic conditions impact their bottom line through lower productivity, hours and days lost, and, in some cases, direct medical expenses," says Nossel.

"But companies are also in a better position to do something about it through education, facilities and programmes. Often companies already have the infrastructure in place to do so, so leveraging these to encourage healthier lifestyles can be achieved at relatively low cost, and across borders in the case of multi-nationals.

"For instance, companies can use their internal communications systems to promote healthy behaviours, offer healthy options in their canteens, and reward and encourage staff to exercise more."

Healthy habits learned in the office can also be passed on to the home and to employees' children, says Nossel.

Nossel says it's a question of getting buy-in from corporate executives, and embedding healthy living in a company's culture.

"But the gains are very tangible. A Canadian study estimates that a 10% increase in physical activity could reduce direct healthcare costs by $125 million," says Nossel.

For emerging economies the gains of achieving the WHOs goals are even greater. It estimates that China could gain as much as $36 billion in increased labour supply, $20 billion in Russia, $15 billion in India and $4 billion in Brazil.

"Corporate companies particularly the multinationals that operate widely in many emerging countries have an important role in achieving these gains, to everyone's benefit" says Nossel.