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The Burden of Illness in Canada
Direct costs of health resources in Canada include drugs, physician care, care in hospitals and other health care institutions, and various other health care expenditures. Indirect costs include lost productivity through illness, disability and premature mortality. Estimates of the cost of illness in Canada are vital to setting priorities for allocating health resources.
Recently released data from Health Canada, estimates that in 1998 the total cost of illness in Canada was $159.4 billion. This includes direct health care costs of $83.9 billion and indirect costs of $75.5 billion. Hospital care expenditures represent the largest direct cost at $27.6 billion. Major components of the indirect costs include the value of production lost due to long and short term disability which is estimated to be $42 billion.
As Canada's population ages, so does the prevalence of chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Over the next decade, the dramatic increase in patients with chronic conditions will add significantly to the burden of illness in Canada. To learn more about the prevalence of chronic conditions in Canada and to obtain provincial and regional data on selected conditions click on one of the links below.
Source: Health Canada, Economic Burden of Illness in Canada 1998, Ottawa 2002
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