A new report launched today by the International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC-UK) and ILC Canada alongside the 15th IFA Global Conference on Ageing urges countries to increase spending on disease prevention and health promotion in the COVID-19 recovery.

• Think tanks call for at least 6% of health budgets to be spent on proactive health measures as countries build back from the damage inflicted by the COVID-10 pandemic.
• Since increasing its spending on health promotion to 6%, Canada has seen a decrease in avoidable mortality from 150 for every 100,000 citizens in 2000 to 116 for every 100,000 in 2017.
• For the UK, reaching this target would require a £2.7 billion investment: just 4.5% of the £60 billion spent on COVID-19 measures.

Proactive health measures, such as screenings and vaccinations, as well as early detection and management of disease, have been shown to not only improve population health, but support the economy too. ILC-UK’s “Health equals wealth” report from 2020 shows that:

• In countries that spend more on health, older people work, volunteer and spend more.
• People who report being in good rather than poor health are over four times more likely to be in work between the ages of 50 and 65, and over 10 times more likely between 65 and 74.
• Increasing preventative health spend by just 0.1 percentage points can unlock a 9% increase in annual spending by people aged 60+, and an additional 10 hours of volunteering.

However, despite international commitments to prevention, across the OECD, countries spend an average of just 2.8% of their health budgets on these interventions – with some countries like Portugal, Latvia and Greece spending less than 1% on preventative interventions, like screenings, vaccines and supporting healthy life style choices.

Canada spends the highest amount – 6% of its health budget on proactive health measures, more than double the OECD average. As a result, Canada has seen:

• A steady decrease in avoidable mortality rate: from 150 for every 100,000 citizens in 2000 to 116 for every 100,000 in 2017
• An increase in life expectancy from 79 to 82.1 years
• One of the OECD’s highest five-year survival rates for lung and breast cancers

“Emulating Canada’s spending target – 6% of total health expenditure – would be ambitious for some countries, but not unachievable”, argued Lily Parsey, Global Policy and Influencing Manager at ILC-UK.

For the UK, reaching this target would represent a £2.687 billion investment: that’s just 4.5% of the £60 billion the Department of Health and Social Care received for COVID-19 measures.

“But it’s important to remember that reaching this expenditure target is only a starting point. We need long-term, meaningful investment in proactive health measures to address health inequalities, engage all actors involved in population health, and ensure we have data and technology infrastructures that work for all”, added Lily Parsey.

“In the context of an ageing world, where inequalities are rife and on the rise, countries around the world must continue to increase their spending in this area to support a long-term shift from ‘illness services’ to ‘health services’ and to promote healthy ageing throughout everyone’s lives”, argued Margaret Gillis, President of ILC Canada.

Notes

Download the report: “Money talks: Investing in proactive health measures to support healthy ageing” here.

Find out more about our “Delivering prevention in an ageing world” programme here.