According to a recent report, governments all over the world may incur costs of more than $27 billion annually as a result of citizens not engaging in enough physical activity.
Lack of exercise can be costly
Data provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO), reveals cases of dementia diabetes and high blood pressure will skyrocket by 2030. This will massively raise the budget for health services.
The data also showed that regular exercise can end up reducing health risks by almost 30 percent.
WHO is urging governments to encourage people to adopt healthier lifestyles in order to combat lifestyle-related diseases. As per WHO, about 7 to 8 percent of cardiovascular diseases, dementia, and depression can be prevented by regular exercise.
Additionally, healthcare costs have increased worldwide as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this trend is expected to continue.
“There are few areas in public health where evidence on required action is so convincing, cost-effective and practical,” stated the WHO global report.
“A consequence of this ‘inaction’ is that already stretched health systems are burdened with preventable disease today and even more so in the future, and communities fail to benefit from the wider social, environmental, and economic benefits associated with more people being more active,” it added.
More on the latest global report
Despite the fact that the benefits of physical activity and exercise are obvious, the WHO noted that governments have not given much thought to increasing public awareness. In low-income nations with low standards of living and inadequate healthcare, the situation is significantly worse.
WHO discovered that less than half of the 194 countries covered by the report have a clear national policy regarding healthy living, though it is not fully operational in all of those countries.
By 2030, type 2 diabetes, stroke, dementia, depression, and some cancers will account for 499,208 million new cases of preventable non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions, according to the WHO’s forecast. More than 40% of these will take place in lower-middle-income nations like Bangladesh, Kenya, and India.
According to the report, which was released on Tuesday, 43% of those new cases of NCDs would result from depression and nearly half from hypertension (high blood pressure).
“We need more countries to scale up implementation of policies to support people to be more active through walking, cycling, sport and other physical activity. The benefits are huge, not only for the physical and mental health of individuals. But also for societies, environments, and economies,” stated Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of WHO.