Diabetes costs Fiji $145m in losses
“The cost of diabetes stands at around $145 million. This includes productivity losses from death, absenteeism, and presenteeism.”
Saturday 16 November 2024 | 12:22
The total cost of diabetes in Fiji is approximately $145 million annually. If this figure doesn’t change, what else could?” asks Dr Devina Nand.
Dr Nand, the Head of Wellness at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services said, “I would like to focus on economic intervention. We know that Type 2 diabetes is a major public health issue in Fiji,” Dr Nand said.
“It significantly impacts the quality of life and economic productivity of the nation,” she added.
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“The cost of diabetes stands at around $145 million. This includes productivity losses from death, absenteeism, and presenteeism.”
Presenteeism refers to employees who are physically present at work but are not operating at full capacity due to illness or injury.
“The cost of diabetes care is at least 3.2 times higher than the average per capita healthcare expenditure, and rises nearly 19.4 times in the presence of complications.
“If this doesn’t motivate us to act, then what will?” she added.
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