Date:13/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/13/stories/2007091354701400.htm

National

‘Diseases take their toll on national income’

Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI: The estimated loss in India’s national income as a result of heart diseases, stroke and diabetes in 2005 was $9 billion, and it is projected to exceed $200 billion over the next 10 years.

While the corporate sector has been quick to realise the benefits of preventive healthcare, policy has lagged behind and there are no fiscal or other incentives to encourage prevention, says a study conducted by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.

The study, “Impact of Preventive Healthcare on Indian Industry and Economy,” released here on Wednesday, says public spending on health has stagnated at 0.9 per cent of the GDP since the mid-1980s, and the government per capita health expenditure is one of the lowest.

The government should focus its limited resources towards the health of the poor, and provide tax exemptions to sections which can take care of their health needs.

More blue-collar workers with lower incomes are afflicted with acute as well as chronic infectious diseases, while senior executives with higher incomes suffer from lifestyle diseases for lack of physical exercise and dietary control. Preventive healthcare measures have to go beyond routine check-ups, and extend to lifestyle management for effective outcomes.

The direct impact of employee sickness is reflected in loss of mandays. According to the survey, almost a quarter of the companies lose approximately 14 per cent of their annual working days (more than 51 days) due to sickness, and one can expect an equal percentage of loss in their productivity and profits. Only a preventive healthcare strategy can reduce the chance of sickness and sick leave.

As many as 82 per cent of the respondents — including many who do not provide preventive healthcare facilities — agree that preventive healthcare measures increase their firms’ productivity and profitability; 50 per cent of them expressed a clear interest in offering preventive healthcare vouchers as an effective delivery tool and two-thirds wanted to know more details of the mechanism and concrete business proposals.

The study has suggested tax exemption for spending on preventive healthcare, insurance premium and fiscal incentives to corporate houses for adopting healthcare measures.