Chronic disease is a crisis not only crippling people but it is
also crippling economies. The World Health Organization (WHO)
estimated that 60 percent of deaths worldwide in 2005 were due to
chronic diseases.
Furthermore, according to the US Center for Disease Control,
chronic disease accounts for roughly 75 percent of health care
costs in the United States each year.
Heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory
disease and obesity are traditionally seen as the scourge of the
developed world. What is not yet properly understood is that death
rates from chronic diseases are increasingly higher in developing
countries, with dramatic effects on loss of national income,
robbing families of breadwinners and draining communities of needed
expertise.
The WHO estimates that China will lose 558 billion US dollars,
India 237 billion dollars and Russia 303 billion dollars in
national income from 2005-2015 due to heart disease, stroke and
diabetes.
Professor K. Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health
Foundation of India, has said that "heart disease is the number one
killer throughout India. By 2030, 18 million potentially productive
years of life will be lost. We can ill afford this". Recent studies
show economic losses in developing countries will threaten the
stability of social security systems in the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development nations. So while the problem
is local, the impact will be increasingly global.
Yet, there are practical, tangible steps, which can be taken
now. The role of the workplace, as integral to addressing the major
causes of death and disease in adults, was first recognized by the
international AIDS community. Their energy and expertise propelled
workplace AIDS programs to the highest levels of government and
corporate attention.
There is incredible potential for nearly 3 billion productive
people in labor markets around the world to affect change in the
workplace. We must now ensure that heart disease, diabetes and
cancers – by far the largest contributors to ill health and
premature death at work – receive the same attention as the AIDS
epidemic.
The private sector has the tools and knowledge to address most
major health problems in the workplace. Tobacco cessation programs
and smoke free workplaces work; screening and treatment for high
blood pressure and cholesterol works; stress management programs
work.
The recently completed WHO/World Economic Forum joint report on
workplace wellness indicates that workplace programs targeting
physical inactivity and unhealthy dietary habits, are effective in
reducing the risks for major non-communicable diseases in a
cost-effective manner. Further, it highlights key elements for the
development of sustainable wellness programs and includes examples
of successful programs implemented in countries as diverse as
India, Malaysia and the US.
Some steps are simple – such as providing affordable, nutritious
foods and access to physical activity – but there are tough
problems still to solve and answers will only come through
collaborative innovation. For example, a relatively new frontier
for wellness is obesity. There is no major success story of
reducing obesity levels in a large workplace setting and sustaining
it over time. We have yet to pull together our best efforts to
simultaneously address the input of calories and working to drive
calories out by engaging employees in becoming more physical.
A good company does more than focus only on short term profits –
it makes products that responsibly nourish people and societies,
minimizes the impact on the environment in which it operates and
cherishes its employees. A work environment which enhances health
and wellness demonstrates to employees their importance to the
company by enabling them to live life to its fullest.
This is a challenge that cannot be tackled just by medical and
health services. It will take a companywide effort to make a
difference. And for us to sustain the impact it will demand full
involvement of the community.
At the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, 15 global
CEOs made a call to leaders to strengthen their commitment to
employee wellness in the workplace on a global scale. As we look to
the coming year, we call on leaders to collaborate and share ideas
for cherishing their employees and putting health concerns higher
on the corporate agenda worldwide. That will take will, courage and
serious investment.
The impact though will be profound for health, for communities
and yes, even for nations.
(China Daily February 1, 2008)
