Research carried out by the WifOR Institute, specialized in economic studies, evaluated the socioeconomic burden of highly prevalent chronic diseases in Latin America. Requested by FIFARMA (Latin American Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry), the study indicates that migraine causes economic losses of around 67.7 billion dollars in the eight countries involved in the study, which are Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
In the case of Peru, in 2022 alone, the economic cost of migraine amounts to nearly US$2 billion. This means that the disease has a cost equivalent to 0.9% of GDP.
Among people aged 15 to 49, migraines are the second cause of disability in the world. Among women, it is the main cause of disability. Those who suffer from this health condition lose, on average, 19.5 days of work per year due to the problem. In Peru, it is estimated that around 14% of the national population suffers from migraine and 85% of these cases occur in adolescents and people in their 30s.
“Migraine, often underdiagnosed and undertreated, causes enormous damage to the personal and professional lives of patients, the majority of whom are women. Of the Latin American countries, Mexico registers one of the lowest rates of diagnosis and treatment of the disease, around 27%. In addition to the economic losses related to absenteeism from work and a drop in productivity, the disease affects personal life, damaging essential unpaid activities, such as caring for the home, children, and leisure,” highlights Rodrigo Nascimento, medical director of Pfizer LATAM for Migraine.
In a five-year evaluation, between 2018 and 2022, economic losses in Latin America related to migraine ranged from 3.9 billion dollars (Costa Rica) to 142.9 billion dollars (Brazil).
In the period from 2011 to 2022, migraine, diabetes and cardiovascular pathologies presented the greatest economic losses among the set of diseases evaluated in Latin America. In most countries in the region, migraine was responsible for economic losses of around 1.2% of GDP.
In Peru, to compensate for the economic losses of five years in migraine (2018-2022), each individual over 15 years of age would have to work on average 3.4 days.
Disproportionate impact on the poorest
Several published studies indicate that the risk of suffering from migraine is greater among the population belonging to the lowest economic classes. Common risk factors are seen in these populations, such as poor diet, high body mass index, physical inactivity, smoking, and low educational level.
Another aspect highlighted by the report is the burden of diseases in the informal work sector. The study indicates that informality is very significant in the Latin American labor market. The rate of self-employed and/or unregistered people in the region varies from 29% in Chile to more than 60% in countries such as Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. According to the document, productivity losses affect informal workers more intensely, who are more likely to lose their jobs and suffer significant financial losses due to lack of remuneration and access to support funds during the period of absence. Furthermore, informality makes it difficult to access unemployment support programs.
Challenges and hope for the future
September 12 marked the International Migraine Action Day, an important initiative to raise awareness about migraine, its impact on people’s lives and celebrate the contribution of medical science.
After 35 years since the introduction of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD), we are living in the era of the second great revolution in migraine therapies. The advances open a hopeful perspective for patients, allowing them to find effective measures for acute and preventive treatment, and may also reduce the burden related to migraine.
For researchers at the WindfOR Institute, the expectation is that understanding the impact of the disease on society can lead to progress in action against migraine, which should no longer be perceived as a cost factor, but rather as a driving force. economic development, innovation and better health.
Against this backdrop, Pfizer has dedicated itself to innovations that provide improvements in the lives of patients living with migraine: “Pfizer is investing in the research and development of new therapies for migraine, collaborating with different institutions and organizations, seeking the opinion of patients and incorporating their perspectives and needs in this process, to ensure that new therapies address the root causes of migraine and improve patients’ lives,” highlights Rodrigo.
Objective of the study
At the request of FIFARMA, the German WifOR Institute developed the study ‘Socioeconomic impact of the main diseases in eight Latin American countries’ with the aim of quantifying the economic losses related to the main high-impact diseases in the region. The countries included in the analysis were Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru and the diseases covered were cardiovascular pathologies, neoplasms, including breast cancer, ischemic heart disease, respiratory infections, type 2 diabetes and migraines .
The report defines socioeconomic burden as the degree to which a disease impairs people’s ability to work, generating productivity losses and a reduction in human capital.
Methodology
The methodology goes beyond the traditional paradigm in economic evaluation to address productivity losses. She brings a unique combination of value chain effects (revenue and expenditure analysis) and health economics knowledge. It measures direct, indirect and spillover effects, taking into account the losses of human capital in paid and unpaid work activities. The socioeconomic burden is measured in losses for the country, and not according to what the individual generates for himself.
