Sunday, September 12, 2010

Diabetes could cost Ontario $7B a year by 2020: report

From the National Post:
More than one in 10 Ontarians could be living with diabetes by 2020, costing the province $7-billion a year in health care and lost productivity, a new report reveals.

The study, released on Wednesday morning by the Canadian Diabetes Association, urges the Ontario government to rethink how it fights the epidemic.

According to the report, the number of Ontarians with diabetes has nearly doubled since 2000, from 546,000 to more than 1.1 million, and is on track to grow over the next decade to 1.9 million.

That means 12% of all Ontarians could be diagnosed with the disease by 2020.

Diabetes already costs Ontario $4.9-billion annually, mostly in lost productivity ($2.8-billion) and long-term disability claims ($998-million). Another $1-billion is spent on hospital visits, doctors’ fees and medications. ...more

No comments: