Will you survive the crisis?
Innumerable lives have been destroyed since the crash of the global financial markets last September. Fortunes vanished within hours and promising careers experienced a sudden end. But economic downturns like this not only lead to individual misfortune, but to a rise in suicides and homicides, unless governments respond with key investments in social and health protections.
These are the main points of a series of studies presented at the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG). Dr. David Stuckler, social epidemiologist at the University of Oxford and author of a highly regarded Lancet study on health impacts of the crises, explains “In Sweden, where spendings on health and social care per capital is relatively high, economic crisis did not result in higher suicide rates. In contrast, in Spain, where the public healthcare system is less well-resourced, suicide rates have risen sharply as unemployment increased.” "However", Stuckler adds, “Rising suicides are the `tip of the iceberg`”.
He warns against radical cuts in the health and social budgets: “Cutting public health services is not a price worth paying. Times of crisis are when people need help from their governments the most.” He adds that the arguments that health sacrifices have to be made in the short term in order to profit in the long term are wrong. Reducing primary care services only delays the expense. Furthermore, worse health and healthcare slows the long-term recovery of the economy due to rising sick leave and lower productivity. Stuckler notes, “There is strong evidence that investing in health promotes economic growth. Financial crisis creates an opportunity to align economic stimulus with improved public health.”
To prevent additional deaths would require modest funds: “For less than one percent the money spent to rescue the financial system, we could prevent any additional deaths from the crises. Preventive measures should move beyond healthcare to promoting health.”
01.10.2009
