Blood clots cost Australia $1.72 billion
Deadly blood clots kill more than 5,000 hospitalised Australians each year and cost the country about $1.7 billion, mostly from lost productivity, according to a new report.
The Access Economics report estimates venous thromboembolism (VTE) will be responsible for 5,285 preventable deaths this year, more than lung and breast cancer combined.
More than 80% of the $1.72 billion financial cost of the condition was caused by productivity lost due to premature death. Direct health costs accounted for just 9%.
Lynne Pezzullo of Access Economics said VTE, or blood clots that form in the veins, caused more deaths than all transport accidents and falls combined. “It is a bigger killer than bowel or breast cancer,” Ms Pezzullo said. “The findings of this report are surprising and present an immediate call to action.”
The report was commissioned by the trans-Tasman VTE expert group that has been lobbying governments to make blood clot assessments of every patients compulsory on arrival at hospital. An international study published in The Lancet in February found fewer than half of inpatients at risk were receiving preventive treatments.
