The monetary value of human lives lost due to neglected tropical diseases in Africa

Abstract

BackgroundNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are an important cause of death and disability in Africa. This study estimates the monetary value of human lives lost due to NTDs in the continent in 2015.MethodsThe lost output or human capital approach was used to evaluate the years of life lost due to premature deaths from NTDs among 10 high/upper-middle-income (Group 1), 17 middle-income (Group 2) and 27 low-income (Group 3) countries in Africa. The future losses were discounted to their present values at a 3% discount rate. The model was re-analysed using 5% and 10% discount rates to assess the impact on the estimated total value of human lives lost.ResultsThe estimated value of 67 860 human lives lost in 2015 due to NTDs was Int$ 5 112 472 607. Out of that, 14.6% was borne by Group 1, 57.7% by Group 2 and 27.7% by Group 3 countries. The mean value of human life lost per NTD death was Int$ 231 278, Int$ 109 771 and Int$ 37 489 for Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 countries, respectively. The estimated value of human lives lost in 2015 due to NTDs was equivalent to 0.1% of the cumulative gross domestic product of the 53 continental African countries.ConclusionsEven though NTDs are not a major cause of death, they impact negatively on the productivity of those affected throughout their life-course. Thus, the case for investing in NTDs control should also be influenced by the value of NTD morbidity, availability of effective donated medicines, human rights arguments, and need to achieve the NTD-related target 3.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 (on health) by 2030.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40249-017-0379-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The fiscal value of human lives lost from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China

“…This study employed the value of human life analytical framework developed by Weisbrod [9], Landefeld and Seskin [10], Hall and Jones [11], Chisholm et al [12] and WHO [13]; and applied in the past to estimate the productivity losses associated with Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo [14]; deaths associated with non-communicable diseases in Africa [15]; deaths due to neglected tropical diseases in Africa [16]; tuberculosis deaths in Africa [17]; maternal deaths in Africa in 2013 [18]; child mortality in Africa [19]; EVD deaths in West Africa [20]; and maternal deaths in Africa in 2010 [21].…”

“…In line with past studies [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], China's non-health GDP per capita (i.e. the difference between GDP per person and current health expenditure per person) was used as a proxy indicator of the money value of each YLL.…”

“…where 1 (1 + r) t is the discount factor used to convert future non-health GDP losses into today's dollars; r is an interest rate that measures the opportunity cost of lost earnings, which was 3% in the current study [9]; t=n t=1 is the summation from year t = 1 to t = n ; t is the first year of life lost, and n is the final year of the total number of YLL per COVID-19 death within an age group; NGDPC Int$ is per capita non-health GDP in Int$ or purchasing power parity (PPP); COVID − 19D j is the number of COVID-19 deaths in jth age group, where j = 1 corresponds to the age group 25-49 years, j = 2 to the age group 50-64 years, and j = 3 to the age group 65 years and above in China [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Future non-health GDP losses were discounted to their present values using 2020 as the base year.…”

Digyaindoleacid A: 2-(1-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)-3-oxobut-1-en-2-yloxy)-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)propanoic Acid, a Novel Indole Alkaloid

“…In fact, statistics are available to indicate that thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of people in low-income countries indeed contract one or more of these very terrible ailments due to geographical location, persistent poverty and repeated exposure to pathogens [2,3]. The number of deaths resulting from NTDs is also in the thousand to tens of thousands, even though, it is commendable the extent of reduction of deaths since 1960s to date as a result of World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other organizational programs [4]. It is interesting that, with such feats, NTDs currently do not make the list of top five killers over the past decade notwithstanding the fact that millions still live with the neglected infections.…”

Pecuniary Value of Disability-Adjusted-Life-Years in the Arab Maghreb Union in 2015

“…A number of studies in Africa have attempted to estimate the economic burden of premature mortality from neglected tropical diseases [37], childhood diseases [38], cholera [39], diabetes mellitus [40], disasters [41] "the sum of the present value of future years of life time lost through premature mortality, and the present value of years of future life time adjusted for the average severity (frequency and intensity) of any mental or physical disability caused by a disease or injury (p. 326).…”