Non-communicable diseases are estimated to cost Fiji about $591 million annually in both direct and indirect costs, such as lost working days, says World Bank Health Specialist Dr Mesulame Namedre.

The latest Fiji Health Sector Review report titled “Mo Bulabula, ka Bula Balavu: Wishing you a healthy life, and a long life” by the World Bank reveals that Fijians are not reaching their full productive potential due to poor health outcomes.

Life expectancy at birth in Fiji is 68 years, which is eight years lower than the average of 76 years for upper-middle-income countries, despite Fiji being classified as such.

According to the World Bank, if current trends continue, Fiji’s health expenditure could rise to seven percent of GDP by 2050, with per capita health spending expected to increase by as much as 250 percent.

The review was conducted at the request of the Minister of Finance.

Dr. Namedre says while Fiji continues to face recurrent outbreaks of infectious diseases, it is also grappling with a catastrophic rise in non-communicable diseases.

He says that nearly 64 percent of all deaths from NCDs occur among the working-age population.

“Most of the deaths that happen, and we only mentioned deaths here, but also the disability that comes with NCDs. It’s happening in your working age population. These are your breadwinners for families. From 1990 to 2009 and 2019 you’ll see that the growth of the NCD burden is crowding out all the other diseases.”

Dr. Namedre says the direct and indirect cost of NCDs is estimated at approximately $591 million annually.

He says that if Fiji does not ‘close the tap’ on its NCD tsunami and if public spending does not rise to meet future needs, households may forgo care, with adverse implications on equity.

“So that’s a huge increase from 3% to 7% now think about how the health system in Fiji is financed. Most of the funding in Fiji for health comes from the government, right? So that’s a huge increase in standing people. So if the government is not able to cover that, people will have to pay out of pocket.”

According to WHO health experts, Fiji’s health system is neither structured nor equipped to effectively prevent and manage its disease burden.