New report quantifies the cost of MS at over $3 billion annually, and points to additional major “COVID Gap” costs through higher health care expenses, economic productivity and wellbeing loss
A new research report by Deloitte Access Economics concluded that emergency COVID-19 health measures have had a severe negative impact on Canada’s multiple sclerosis (MS) community. MS is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system affecting over 90,000 Canadians, with approximately 12 diagnosed every day.
Seeking to quantify the impact of pandemic health measures and their disruption on the healthcare system, the independent report found that delayed and disrupted diagnosis and treatment of Canadians living with MS resulted in the equivalent to a nearly $600 million increase in additional health care costs, lost economic productivity, and wellbeing between 2020 and 2024.
This COVID “gap” is expected to get worse, unless immediate steps are taken to remedy the delayed diagnosis and foregone treatment.
Download the full report: https://mscanada.ca/covid-impact
Key findings: https://mscanada.ca/covid-impact-what-we-discovered
- In a normal (non-disrupted) year, the annual cost of MS to Canada is significant, totalling more than $3.4 billion in direct health costs, productivity loss and other costs.
- The COVID-19 disruption caused worse outcomes for Canadians living with MS through delayed MS diagnosis, and delayed or foregone MS treatment.
- Delayed diagnosis and disrupted treatment will generate an additional $578.2 million in MS-related health system expenditure, productivity losses, and lost wellbeing between 2020 and 2024.
- These additional health and economic costs of the COVID-19 disruption are expected to continue, unless governments take bold action now to retroactively make up for delayed diagnosis and delayed treatment by investing in MS research to prevent MS and to close the COVID-19 gap by boosting MS specialist care.
- “Early diagnosis and timely intervention with the most effective treatment is key to protecting brain health, preserving function, and minimizing the impact on our healthcare system.” – Dr. Pamela Valentine, President and CEO of MS Canada