A Healthy Nation a Healthy Economy

Watching the BBC news channel I came to know that Obesity is one of the major threats that is facing many nations around the world in our modern age. A disturbing fact from the World Health Organization and other health related establishments are stating that more people are dying due to obesity then hanger and other diseases in this world, a new fact that streaked everyone around the world including me personally. I personally thought that famine is rising due to the increase in food prices in the international market, and the scarcity agricultural land globally.

The UAE government is increasing the health care budget on yearly basis in orders to enhance and improve the medical care for the public, and part of that money is spend in creating campaign ads in different media plat forms to educate the mass of major disease that could affect their quality of life style and that could present a danger to the national security of the nation. One of those major diseases that the government is trying to find solution to eliminate or to reduce its growth rate is Obesity the rate among the population residing in the UAE. If we look at the numbers that are released by UAE Ministry of Health (MoH) in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) results that show 67 per cent of Emirati men and 72 per cent of Emirati women are overweight, and that 44.6 per cent of the women in UAE will be obese by 2015, the numbers are really shocking to me personally.

As a result of the study the government is creating new strategies to overcome the obesity academia, which made some argue the thought of the government is intervening in people life and directing them in how to live their life. On the contrary my personal view the government is not telling us how to live our life but is looking after our wellbeing to enjoy life with best quality. And on top of that all, everything in this world has a price and economical value related to it, by tackling the issue is the government is saving a lot of money in the long run.

Let us discover the world of obesity from a financial and economical point of view, since most of my personal decisions are made in that manner. When everyone living in the country locals and residents are enjoying a good healthy life style that means more productivity and less wasted time which will result in more circulation of money in the economy that will lead to stronger healthy economy, if we take that into consecration the cost of obesity related diseases a study by Thompson and colleagues concluded that, over the course of a lifetime, per-person costs for obesity were similar to those for smoking. In middle-age men, treatment of five common obesity-related conditions (stroke, coronary artery disease, diabetes, hypertension, and elevated cholesterol) resulted in roughly USD 9,000 to USD 17,000 higher costs compared to normal-weight adults. Some researchers in the USA have estimated that by 2030, if obesity trends continue unchecked, obesity-related medical costs alone could rise by USD 48 to USD 66 billion a year (Harvard School of Public Health).

If that was the case in United State, what would the case be in UAE? I personally believe that impact of Obesity related disease on the UAE economy could be much greater since the government is providing free health care system for the UAE nationals and most of the residents working for the government sector which in not the case in the United States.

Imagine for a moment what would be the case if the government spent on other areas of the economy and human development, what would be the case? Numbers speak for its self the government will have some extra money to invest in the economy that will result in creating new jobs those new jobs will inquire for new services and goods that will inject and increase the circulation of money into the economy, as result the country GDP will increase. A healthy person creates a healthy economy.