A new report from the Kyrgyz Ministry of Health has laid bare the economic and human cost of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the country, revealing that these largely preventable illnesses account for a staggering 4% of national GDP.
The report underscores both the scale of the challenge and the potential for smart, targeted interventions to deliver life-saving and cost-effective results.
What stands out is that less than one-fifth of the country’s costs from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes comes from direct healthcare while over 80% is from indirect costs—primarily productivity losses linked to premature deaths.
But there’s a silver lining: investing in prevention and control pays off, both in terms of health outcomes and economic returns. The report highlights prevention, with salt reduction topping the list. Population-level interventions to cut salt intake could deliver extraordinary returns; 1:82 over 15 years, with interventions to reduce tobacco use coming in at 1:37 and interventions to reduce alcohol consumption at 1:16.
The report, supported by WHO, UNDP, and the Task Force Secretariat, will be launched in the coming weeks.
As Kyrgyzstan joins a growing number of countries putting hard numbers behind the cost of inaction, the message is clear: prevention isn't just better than cure—it’s also a smart economic choice.
The report is available here.
