The economic burden of non-communicable disease mortality in the South Pacific: Evidence from Fiji

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have emerged as one of the major endemics in Fiji
which is responsible for more than 80 percent of deaths annually. In this study, we estimate
the economic burden of non-communicable disease mortality in Fiji. The specific impact of
diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and cancer-related mortality
on Fiji’s output is also investigated using the autoregressive distributed lag bounds tests
approach to cointegration. The data used is compiled from Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services and World Health Organization’s Mortality database. Overall, the study finds
that NCD mortality rate together with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory
disease and cancer have a significant negative effect on output per capita of Fiji between
1972 and 2016. A one percentage point increase in NCD-mortality rate reduced output per
capita by 0.012 percent. In addition, a percentage point increase in the mortality rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer decreased output per
capita by 0.018, 0.01, 0.031, and 0.035 percent, respectively. The findings conclude that
NCD poses significant economic burden in Fiji and recommend policy innovations in lessening the high risk of NCD among the Fijian population