Cancer bleeds BRICS economy, China worst affected

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Premature and potentially preventable cancer-related deaths in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) lead to a productivity loss of more than 46 billion US dollars annually, a new UN study claims.

BRICS countries, which have nearly 40 percent of the world’s population and account for a quarter of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), witness 42 percent of cancer deaths worldwide.

The study, titled “Productivity losses due to premature mortality from cancer in BRICS countries,” calculates the total cost of lost productivity due to premature cancer deaths. Researchers found that liver cancer and lung cancer have the most extensive impact on overall productivity lost.

China, which is affected mainly by liver cancer, hepatitis B virus infections, and exposure to cancer-causing toxins found in soil known as aflatoxins, faces the largest productivity loss of around 28 billion US dollars among BRICS nations.

The study estimates that in China, smoking contributes to 33 percent of all male cancer deaths and 5 percent of all female cancer deaths, causing a productivity loss of 7.9 billion US dollars annually.

A different tobacco habit in India – chewing tobacco or smokeless tobacco – is causing an unprecedented rise in the number of those with lip and oral cavity cancer. The country recorded a cancer-related productivity loss of 6.7 billion US dollars, or equivalent to 0.36 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Project (GDP).

A patient receives chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer at the Antoine-Lacassagne Cancer Center in Nice, July 26, 2012. /Reuters Photo

India is second only to South Africa, which faces a productivity loss of 1.9 billion US dollars. Researchers found the cost per death of productivity lost in India was less than 20,000 US dollars, the lowest among BRICS countries. But red flags have been raised over the country’s cancers of the lip and oral cavity, which causes a productivity loss of 0.74 billion US dollars.

The study finds that South Africa pays the highest cost per cancer death of 101,000 US dollars compared with the other BRICS countries.

Unlike in India and China, which are affected most by tobacco-related cancers, South Africa faces high productivity losses per death due to Kaposi sarcoma, a form of cancer common among people with AIDS. “This highlights the extent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa,” researchers claimed.

Cervical cancer has a significant economic impact among females in all BRICS countries that cost 1.6 billion US dollars annually. But the threat of cervical cancer is particularly high in South Africa.

“Studying the economic impact of cancer in fast-developing economies highlights the urgency of tackling preventable cancers in these countries and the high cost of cancer not only in terms of lives but also in terms of its impact on the economy,” claimed Dr. Alison Pearce, the lead author of the study.

In Russia, an increase in liver cancer and head and neck cancers to premature cancer mortality overall is associated with the high consumption of alcohol. Other lifestyle-related risk factors were also shown to affect the cancer burden, such as rapidly increasing rates of obesity in Brazil.

Dr. Christopher Wild, the director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, pointed out that the study demonstrates the economic importance of targeted primary prevention activities embedded in national cancer control policies.

“Focusing on tobacco control, vaccination programs, and cancer screening, combined with access to adequate cancer treatment, would yield significant health and economic gains for the BRICS countries,” he suggested.