More than 1 Million Canadian FM & ME/CFS patients
Up to 1.5 million, according to prevalence studies & government statistics
30,000 new patients every year (based on a scaled distribution of 1 million patients over 50 years)
576 new patients every week.
An unknown number, nearly all, initially misdiagnosed or undiagnosed.
No known means to prevent it. Life-changing consequences.
Doesn't this meet the definition of a public health threat?
And doesn't the following prove we are investing heavily, without a plan?
Federal Government costs:
(assuming only one million patients, 1/3 unemployed, for about 300,000 unemployed patients.)
(subtracting 1/3 as Federal disability insurance costs are 2/3 of the total spent on disability insurance in Canada)
Federal Disability Insurance Payments
200,000 patients x $10,000 per year disability insurance = $2 billion
Federal Income Taxes Lost
200,000 x $6,000 (20% tax x $30,000 Canadian average income) = $1.2 billion lost taxes
GST Taxes Lost
200,000 x $1400 (7% of $20,000 = $30,000 - $10,000 income drop)= $ .28 billion lost GST
Total Federal Costs and Losses:
$3.48 Billion
$3.48 Billion, otherwise known as:
$283 Million per month
Just under $10 Million per day
$108.00 in Federal costs to every living Canadian ($3.48 b / 32 million Canadians)
$3.48 billion is almost 2% of the $188 billion spent on programs in the Federal Budget, as of 2006.
Twice the annual $1.6 billion costs of the Child Care initiatives
Equal to the $3.5 billion cost of reducing the GST rate to 6 per cent cost
Source: http://www.fin.gc.ca/budtoce/2006/budliste.htm
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Increased Old-Age Assistance costs as more adults lose their ability to accumulate wealth
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Provincial, local, & business costs:
Billions more in health care - medications, physician time, diagnostic costs
Social services, from food banks, to subsidized daycare, etc.
Welfare, Provincial disability insurance, private insurers' costs
Business - the loss of higher income consumers and former/future employees
Volunteer contributions, and those of the family members, are lost or diminished.
Children are affected, either as patients, or by afflicted parents.
De facto, there is a major investment in Canada for these illnesses, but is it working?
Can we do something to improve the health outcomes and lower costs? Relatively inexpensively?
Much smaller numbers, useful investments
$1 million, cost of educating all health practitioners
$1 million, cost of educating all patients with documentation
$1 million, advertisements to help Canada understand what faces 10% of the population
$7 million, local helpers organising resources for patients, organising research funding campaigns
$2 million, cost of Research Chair for these illnesses
$5 million, research challenge fund - to help grow the research community
What is the role of the Federal Government in this matter?
Government can not do everything nor should it try. But given that new discoveries and medical advances can now improve outcomes for FM & CFS patients, and given the cost of disabled people on the Federal Treasury, there is merit for Federal intervention, even Provincial action, just to lower their own costs.
There is a large community affected.
FM & ME/CFS affect the whole family, with often difficult challenges.
84% of Canadians live in families, average size: 3
1-1.5 million patients and 2-3 million family living with FM and/or ME/CFS. = 10% of Canadians