The best known ‘facts’ about the macroeconomics of health are that rich nations are healthier and spend more on medical care than poor nations, but that additional wealth or spending may not add much to life expectancy after some threshold level has been exceeded (Figure 1(a)–(c)). A fact that receives insufficient attention is that any
Infectious disease outbreaks such as pandemic influenza or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 are, thankfully, rare events, but they do occur with some degree of regularity and impose a significant public health burden over a short period of time. For instance, there were three influenza pandemics in the twentieth century: in 1918, 1957
Mental health problems are among the most complicated and challenging of all illnesses, with considerable economic implications. It is conventional to distinguish between common mental disorders (including depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress, with an overall prevalence of 15–20%) and severe mental disorders (particularly schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with a
Concerns about the macroeconomic consequences of the human immunodeficiency virus, and the associated acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) have been fueled by several factors. Most obviously, the epidemic has a devastating impact on life expectancy in a number of countries. In the empirical literature on economic growth (not dealing specifically with HIV/AIDS), such a decline is
Rapid increases in overweight and obesity prevalence rates over the last few decades, accompanied (and caused) by widespread dietary imbalances, are imposing huge burdens on health care systems and reducing the quality of life of populations around the world. These trends are not limited to the developed world alone, where there is talk of an