Information

November 2002

Economic Burden of Illness in Canada, 1998

The Economic Burden of Illness in Canada, 1998 is the third edition of the Economic Burden of Illness in Canada report, developed by Health Canada. Its primary goal is to contribute to the understanding of the cost of illness in Canada. It can be found at http://ebic-femc.hc-sc.gc.ca.

Highlights:

• In 1998, the total cost of illness in Canada is estimated to be $159.4 billion: 52.7 per cent in direct costs and 47.3 per cent in indirect costs.
• The 1998 estimate is slightly lower (five per cent) than the 1993 estimate. Overall, this decrease cannot be attributed directly to one factor; it is a combination of demographic changes, technology changes and the performance of the system.
• In the last five years, the top five most costly diseases in Canada have not changed. In 1998, the top five in rank order are: cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, cancer, injuries and respiratory diseases. In 1993, injuries surpassed cancer.
• Cardiovascular diseases have consistently represented the number one cost of illness in Canada since the first edition.
• The direct costs represent the total amount invested in treatment, care and rehabilitation. The indirect costs refer to the value of lost production due to illness, injury, disability or premature death.

About the Report:

• The Economic Burden of Illness in Canada, 1998 was designed to provide additional information to feed into the decision-making process.
• This edition of the Economic Burden of Illness in Canada includes refinements in methodology from previous reports, as well as an increase in the detail of analysis. For example, this edition:
  • provides costs of illness by province/territory, as well as by gender and age-group.
  • calculates the cost of over 40 disease sub-categories in addition to the major disease categories.
  • features an on-line component enabling the general public to access some of the economic data used in this report, through the Internet.

For more information, visit http://ebic-femc.hc-sc.gc.ca.