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Noncommunicable diseases are growing global issue with significant economic consequences, leading to large direct (expenditures for treatment) and indirect (arising from decreased productivity) costs. Plant-based diet has been shown to decrease the risk of the most dangerous noncommunicable diseases (e.g., ischemic heart disease, stroke, and breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer). In this thesis, we estimate the potential cost savings (both healthcare and social) due to reduction of prevalence of noncommunicable diseases in Czechia linked to plant-based eating patterns. Using prevalence, incidence, mortality, and population data from 2019 (supplemented with 2018 data) in Czechia, Markov chains (set for 10 years, updated annually) for control (no PBD eaters) and treatment (20% of population are PBD eaters) groups are constructed. Morbidity between the two groups is compared and costs are estimated as sum of direct (healthcare utilization) and indirect (absenteeism and premature mortality) costs and discounted to present value. Our findings show that 20% of population adhering to plant-based diet would yield cost savings of 15.8 billion CZK in 10 years discounted to present value, corresponding to 0.28% of Czech GDP in 2019. The most substantial part is covered by direct costs: 13.2 billion CZK.... |
