Abstract
BackgroundWhen individuals stop working due to cancer this represents a loss to society – the loss of productivity. The aim of this analysis was to estimate productivity losses associated with premature mortality from all adult cancers and from the 20 highest mortality adult cancers in Ireland in 2011, and project these losses until 2030.MethodsAn incidence-based method was used to estimate the cost of cancer deaths between 2011 and 2030 using the Human Capital Approach. National data were used for cancer, population and economic inputs. Both paid work and unpaid household activities were included. Sensitivity analyses estimated the impact of assumptions around future cancer mortality rates, retirement ages, value of unpaid work, wage growth and discounting.ResultsThe 233,000 projected deaths from all invasive cancers in Ireland between 2011 and 2030 will result in lost productivity valued at €73 billion; €13 billion in paid work and €60 billion in household activities. These losses represent approximately 1.4 % of Ireland’s GDP annually. The most costly cancers are lung (€14.4 billion), colorectal and breast cancer (€8.3 billion each). However, when viewed as productivity losses per cancer death, testis (€364,000 per death), cervix (€155,000 per death) and brain cancer (€136,000 per death) are most costly because they affect working age individuals. An annual 1 % reduction in mortality reduces productivity losses due to all invasive cancers by €8.5 billion over 20 years.ConclusionsSociety incurs substantial losses in productivity as a result of cancer-related mortality, particularly when household production is included. These estimates provide valuable evidence to inform resource allocation decisions in cancer prevention and control.
Highlights
When individuals stop working due to cancer this represents a loss to society – the loss of productivity
Cancer mortality-related productivity losses have been projected for the United States (US) from 2000–2020, Pearce et al BMC Cancer (2016) 16:804 and estimated that annual productivity lost due to cancer mortality would rise from USD$116 billion in 2000 to USD$148 in 2020 [5]
The aim of this study was to estimate national productivity losses associated with premature mortality from all adult cancers combined and from the 20 highest mortality adult cancers in Ireland in 2011, and project these losses until 2030
Summary
When individuals stop working due to cancer this represents a loss to society – the loss of productivity The aim of this analysis was to estimate productivity losses associated with premature mortality from all adult cancers and from the 20 highest mortality adult cancers in Ireland in 2011, and project these losses until 2030. Together with measures of burden such as incidence and mortality, estimates of cancer-related productivity loss provide valuable evidence that can inform populationbased resource allocation decisions in cancer prevention and control [3]. Premature cancerrelated mortality in Ireland has been estimated to cost €510 million annually [3] While useful, these estimates do not provide sufficient information to estimate the potential economic savings of implementing cancer interventions that impact future populations. Only two of these previous studies [3, 5] included unpaid productivity, which approximately doubled the estimates of lost productivity
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