Research by economist Marc Pomp
Investing in knowledge about Healthy Ageing – growing older healthily and actively – results in significant social and economic benefits. Health loss due to ageing could be reduced by a third and the care costs in 2050 in the most optimistic scenario could be limited to no more than 18% of gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, it also contributes to extra labour force participation, which could mean an increase of over 150,000 people by 2050. This is the result of research conducted by Marc Pomp, commissioned by the University Medical Center Groningen. The report, Gezond en actief ouder worden. De maatschappelijke baten van Healthy Ageing onderzoek [Growing older healthily and actively. The social benefits of Healthy Ageing research], was presented to VNO-NCW chairman Bernard Wientjes at the International Press Centre Nieuwspoort today.
In order to realize these social benefits, the Netherlands must invest in prevention, prevention and prevention. This not only means prevention of disease, but also more quickly detecting and treating illnesses and reducing the impact of diseases.
Pomp’s calculations show that if the existing Healthy Ageing research lines result in prevention programmes and treatments, the health loss related to ageing could be reduced by a third. Investing in Healthy Ageing would also contribute to extra labour force participation. According to the calculations, this effect could mean an additional 150,000 people or more by 2050. Therefore, investing in knowledge about Healthy Ageing could have a major effect on labour participation and thus strengthen the Dutch economy. In addition, care costs in 2050 would not rise to 24% of GDP, as has been estimated in the more conservative calculations of the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, but could be limited to no more than 18%.
Pomp compared the social benefits of the application of knowledge about Healthy Ageing to various forms of prevention – prevention of disease, detecting and treating illnesses more quickly, reducing the impact of disease – with a baseline scenario in which no investments are made in developing this knowledge. He used a model that combines data on the Dutch population over fifty years old from various authoritative sources on demographics, quality of life, labour force participation, care expenses and trends in macroeconomics, and costs of health care. The model is designed in such a way that it takes into account possible extra care expenses in additional years of life. This is the first time that such wide-ranging research has been conducted on the social benefits of investments in prevention, taking into consideration benefits such as extra labour force participation, less sick leave and economic growth.
For the UMCG, Pomp’s research confirms the importance of its focus on Healthy Ageing since 2006. UMCG board member Frans Jaspers: ‘The social benefits of investing in Healthy Ageing are enormous and justify ambitious investments. The current top sector policy is insufficiently attuned to the European Commission agenda, in which Healthy Ageing, alongside energy and climate, is one of the priorities. This is why we are aiming for a national programme in which all Healthy Ageing activities at universities, university medical centres and business are combined and which dovetails with EU policy. Marc Pomp’s research supports the importance of investing in Healthy Ageing and we hope that it will inspire others to work with us on the greatest challenge of the 21st century – growing older healthily and actively.’
Background
On average we are growing older, but ageing, environmental and lifestyle factors and medical advances mean that more and more of our life is spent in less good health. In addition, the proportion of elderly in society is also swiftly increasing – over 15% of all Dutch citizens are currently over 65, and by 2025 that will be nearly a quarter.
Not only the personal but also the social impact of these developments will be enormous. Large numbers of Dutch citizens will be needing more and more care, while at the same time both the costs and the work involved will have to be covered by fewer and fewer people. This means that care in the long term will become prohibitively expensive.
Marc Pomp
Dr Marc Pomp is a health economist and for the past few years has worked for the CPB, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa), the Netherlands Association of Hospitals (NVZ) and the Council for Public Health and Care. In May 2010 he published Een beter Nederland: De gouden eieren van de gezondheidszorg [A healthier Netherlands: Healthcare’s golden eggs], a book about the benefits of healthcare. Pomp is currently a freelance health economics advisor.
The UMCG is building on the future of health, with the focus on Healthy Ageing – growing older in a healthy and active way. Healthy ageing lasts a lifetime and starts at conception – parents pass on not only their genes but also the related risks and chances of a healthy life or of contracting a disease later in life. Lifestyle, eating patterns and environmental factors all influence the development of health. However, new knowledge is needed about the exact influence of these factors and their relationship to each other. The UMCG is collecting this knowledge via longitudinal population studies like LifeLines and through the ERIBA research institute, where researchers are conducting fundamental research into ageing processes. The UMGC is working together with the University of Groningen, with universities of applied science, local governments and the business world in the Healthy Ageing Network Northern Netherlands (HANNN) to turn the north of the Netherlands into a top European region in the field of healthy ageing.
Note for the press
Please contact the UMCG Press Office for more information and a copy of the report “Gezond en actief ouder worden. De maatschappelijke baten van Healthy Ageing onderzoek”, tel. +31 50 361 22 00.