Breast Cancer Costs Australia Billions in Lost Wages

A new first-of-its-kind study has revealed that of the estimated 10,732 working-age Australian women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022, they will collectively lose a projected AU$1.4 billion in wage earnings over the 10-year period post diagnosis. Using the novel 'productivity-adjusted life years' (PALY) metric, the Monash-led research team found that breast cancer has a profound impact on the working lives of Australian women, with 16,403 PALYs predicted to be lost over a 10-year period from the time of diagnosis in 2022, through to 2031. This equates to an average of around 1.5 years of full time work for every woman diagnosed. Concurrently, the 16,403 PALYs lost equates to AU$3.26 billion in lost gross domestic product (GDP) over the 10-years post-diagnosis (or AU$1.4 billion in lost wage earning). Females aged 20–64 years were selected as the population of interest because breast cancer disproportionately affects females (compared to males), and this age range is largely representative of the working-age population in Australia. Led by the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety (CMUS) within the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in collaboration with Monash's School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine (SPHPM), the team concluded the burden of lost productivity and wages to both individuals and the broader community is significant and interventions should be considered. One of the study's joint first authors, Dr Melanie Lloyd from CMUS, said investing in increased productivity initiatives for breast cancer patients is likely to be economically beneficial. "By quantifying the economic burden associated with breast cancer in Australia in terms of diminished productivity, this study substantiates the need for funding initiatives that aid integration back into the workforce," Dr Lloyd said. "Helping to support a woman's journey back into the workforce is not only beneficial to the individual but could also help to reduce the economic burden of cancer in Australia." Professor Zanfina Ademi, the Lead Health Economist, Senior and Corresponding author—also from CMUS—said breast cancer-related productivity economic losses exceed healthcare costs. "It's important to note that the estimated AU$3.26 billion GDP attributed to reduced productivity over the 10-years post-diagnosis among the study's cohort is additional to the approximate AU$1.5 billion healthcare expenditure annually attributable to breast cancer in Australia," said Professor Ademi. "Taking this into account, the potential social and economic benefits that could result from supporting women to return to the workforce after a breast cancer diagnosis is certainly worth exploring. For many women, work is a place where they can reclaim their identity, and evidence suggests returning to work is a key contributor to overall quality of life in breast cancer survivorship." The second joint first author was Divya Bassi from Monash's SPHPM/CMUS. Dr Ella Zomer from SPHPM is also a contributing author. The study was published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology and can be read in full here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877782124002054?via%3Dihub#bib5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2024.102726