Investing in health will have pay-offs in the economy

COVID-19 is estimated to have cost Asian economies up to 8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020. Yet every year, poor health reduces the region's GDP by 14 per cent from premature deaths and lost productive potential. In Singapore, more than two-thirds of years lost to poor health occur in people of working age, resulting in US$37 billion worth of lost economic output each year.

That cost is increasing as the incidence of heart disease, cancer and musculoskeletal diseases grows. In 2017, 34 per cent of Singaporean adults suffered from high cholesterol, up from 25 per cent in 2010. A 2019 report by the Ministry of Health found that even though Singaporeans are living longer, non-communicable diseases like these are contributing to a higher proportion of life spent in poor health.

But it does not have to be this way. Even as Covid-19 vaccinations proceed at pace, broader investments in health could provide a boost to Singapore's economy and increase the region's overall productive capacity. We think it is not only possible but achievable.