Annual Economic Impact of Chronic Disease on Ohio Economy is $56...( Impact not inevitable with improved...),Health

Impact not inevitable with improved treatment and prevention of chronic

disease

CLEVELAND, March 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a groundbreaking study released by the Milken Institute, the annual economic impact on Ohio's economy of the most common chronic diseases is calculated to be $56.8 billion. In the U.S. as a whole, the cost is a staggering $1 trillion, which could balloon to nearly $6 trillion by the middle of the century. Yet the news is not entirely grim because much of this cost is avoidable.

"An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease" brings to light for the first time what is often overlooked in the discussion of the impact of chronic disease -- the economic loss associated with preventable illness and the cost to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and American businesses in lost growth.

The results of the study were released at a joint forum hosted today by the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, the City of Cleveland Health Department and Cuyahoga County Board of Health, and the Ohio chapter of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease.

"The human toll of chronic disease in Ohio and the United States as a whole is obvious," said Matt Carroll, Health Director for the City of Cleveland. "The data presented by the Milken Institute today highlights the true cost burden of our failure to address chronic disease. We must reduce the rate of chronic disease to avoid potentially devastating economic damage to our state and nation."

According to the study, seven chronic diseases -- cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions and mental illness -- have a total impact on Ohio's economy of nearly $56.8 billion annually. Of this amount, $43.4 billion represents the cost of lost productivity. The national numbers are $1.3 trillion and $1.1 trillion, respectively.

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