The economic impact of allergic disease in Australia |
In 2007, Australia and New Zealand had among the highest prevalence of allergic disorders in the developed world with 4.1 million Australians (19.6% of the population) having at least one allergy. The financial cost of allergies was $7.8 billion with $5.6 billion (72%) due to productivity loss. To put this financial cost in perspective, it is more than twice as large as schizophrenia ($1.8 billion) and bipolar affective disorder ($1.6 billion) combined.
For affected adults, allergic disorders can lead to impaired quality of life, absenteeism from work, other reduced productivity, aids (especially self-care aids such as dressings for atopic eczema) and home modifications (eg. to prevent or reduce allergen levels in the home). Most patients with allergic disorders have associated comorbidities.
The aim of this report, commissioned by Australasian Society for Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) is to estimate the demographic prevalence, financial cost and disease burden of allergic disorders in Australia. Allergic disorders can be defined as chronic immunological disorders that can impact negatively on quality of life and productivity.
This report is structured as follows:
- Chapter 1 provides background information on the immune system, specific allergic diseases and their symptoms and treatment, as well as methods of diagnosis
- Chapter 2 presents current and projected future prevalence of allergy in Australia
- Chapters 3 and 4 discuss the health system costs and other financial costs associated with allergic disease. Other financial costs include productivity losses (due to lower employment rates, worker absenteeism and premature death), carer and other costs, as well as deadweight (efficiency) losses (DWLs) from transfer payments, such as government welfare and income support payments
- Chapter 5 presents burden of disease (BoD) estimates, which refers to the years of healthy life lost due to disability and premature mortality caused by allergic disease, and is measured by Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs)
- Chapter 6 summarises the economic impacts of allergies
- Chapter 7 reviews the adequacy of the allergy and immunology workforce in Australia, based on simple projections of demand and supply
- Chapter 8 presents strategic, forward-looking conclusions from the analysis.
The full report can be found on the ASCIA website
