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The Visible Toll: Affordability Crisis in Health

by Karishma Abhishek on Jul 3 2023 12:11 AM
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Inability to afford better healthcare is apparent in the appearance of the malnourished poor, just as the obese reveal the "cost" of their health.

The Visible Toll: Affordability Crisis in Health
Visibly malnourished poor reveal their lack of access to better health, just as the obese indicate the "cost" of their health, with healthcare expenses for obesity in India projected to reach $8.43 billion by 2035.
There is an economic implication, both micro, and macro, for the health of the masses, and with an epidemic like obesity, the situation is far more compounded than it is in the case of malnutrition.

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Counting the Costs of Obesity

A study by the World Obesity Federation, a partner of WHO, estimates that the cost of obesity will rise globally by 2035 when more than half of the world’s population will be overweight or obese; and that the economic impact of a higher BMI could touch 4.32 trillion USD annually - if there is no intervention by way of policy and the current trends continue.

This translates as roughly 3 percent of global GDP which is nearly the growth of an economy in one year, and which was also the impact Covid-19 had in 2020, as per the report. This is an increase from 1.96 trillion USD (2.4 percent of global GDP in 2020).

Another study points out that the prevalence of obesity and overweight will likely cost the global economy 3.3 percent of GDP by 2060. Interestingly, there has been no decline in obesity in any country since 1975.

Medical costs account for most direct taxes (99.8 percent) on average globally. Untimely death causes a significant 69.1 percent of all indirect costs. It is learned that indirect costs have a greater impact on GDP than direct costs.

Obesity includes childhood obesity, meaning that “more adolescents now enter adulthood with established risk factors for chronic disease - they’re more likely to develop type 2 diabetes or have heart disease risk factors or orthopedic problems sleep apnea or fatty liver disease,” as per professor and pediatrician Louise Baur.

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Health and Socioeconomic Disparities

Concerning India, there has been a significant rise in obesity in recent decades. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the proportion of men that are obese/overweight has increased from 9.3 percent in 2006 to 22.9 percent in 2021.

For women, the increase has been from 12.6 to 24 percent in the same period. The estimated economic costs of obesity for India by 2035 is said to be 8.43 billion USD as direct healthcare costs, while others comprise 109.38 billion USD (in premature mortality), 176.32 million USD (as direct non-medical costs), 2.23 billion dollars (absenteeism), and 9.10 billion dollars for reduced productivity.

Reasons and remedy experts unanimously agree that a sedentary lifestyle is a major reason behind the increase in obesity. Further, the change in our food habits is a significant contributor to the situation as well: the increased consumption of refined and processed foods which are low in nutrition and high in calories.

Further, the amount of calories consumed is far greater than the number of calories burnt, thanks to a sedentary lifestyle and easy accessibility to unhealthy food. With the rise in obesity, there is bound to be an increase in the prevalence of associated diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and conditions about hormonal imbalance.

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Weighing the Costs

NFHS data reveals that urban residents are more obese/overweight than rural residents. Further, the top 20 percent of people in terms of wealth are more obese/overweight than others. Especially in India, the transition in food habits and lifestyle calls for regulation to minimize the risk factors.

Considering migration and rapid urbanization are nearly inevitable, the social structure fast switching towards nuclear families leads to a lifestyle that eventually leads to diseases associated with obesity.

Concerning resources, which may be scarce, to begin with, and given how they are inequitably distributed, public health advocacy and planning demands that the burden of disease be costed to gain due visibility and be given priority, in addition to making necessary interventions wherever possible for the better upkeep of human resource.

Source-IANS


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