Health is not a cost, but the most powerful investment a country can make
Every year of life gained can generate economic benefits equivalent to 4-5% of GDP
In a Europe seeking new engines of growth, health is both the most powerful and the most undervalued. While citizens point to health as a top priority for the future, governments too often continue to regard it as an expenditure chapter to be contained, rather than a strategic investment for collective well-being, productivity and economic competitiveness.
The data speak for themselves. The latest Comparator Report on Cancer in Europe shows an improvement in five-year cancer survival rates in several European countries, and today almost three quarters of cancer patients manage to remain active in the world of work even after diagnosis. These figures are certainly to be regarded as clinical results, but they are also economic results, because every year of life gained, every person who can continue to contribute to society, strengthens the productive and social fabric of Europe.
The challenge, however, is far from over; by 2050, new cancer cases globally could exceed 35 million, a 77% increase over 2022. Faced with these numbers, not investing in health would mean accepting a major cost in terms of lives, economic growth, and the future. Investing in health generates a measurable, concrete, and lasting return. It is estimated that 73% of the increase in life expectancy observed in high-income countries between 2006 and 2016 was due to new pharmaceutical treatments. And every year of life gained can generate economic benefits equivalent to 4-5% of GDP. It is an extraordinary multiplier effect that few other sectors can boast.
At the same time, not investing in health can generate heavy costs and have impacts on both the economy and society. For example, mental illness results in 12 billion lost working days each year globally. Depression alone costs the EU economy over €92 billion per year in lost productivity (source: WHO / Centre for European Reform). Overall, 'ill health' cost Europe about $2.7 trillion each year, or 15% of annual GDP, in lost economic opportunities: about $5,000 per person. It is an invisible but real cost that no budgetary policy can ignore. Yet, health spending in Europe - as a ratio of GDP - has remained almost stable over the past decades, while needs are growing.
It is time to change perspective. For every euro invested in health, Europe can gain more than twice as much in economic benefits, in addition to direct improvements for patients, - not least because today's pharmaceutical innovation becomes tomorrow's generic drug, generating a virtuous cycle in which new treatments bring direct and indirect benefits to the NHS. This return comes from healthier populations, more productive workers, lower social costs and higher growth. We must not choose between health and the economy: investing in health means investing in the economy. It is a choice of competitiveness, of sustainability, of the future. Health is the only investment that creates value at all levels: individual, social, economic. Health is not an expense item to be cut, but a lever of progress to be activated.
