The economic burden of substance abuse in Punjab

Abstract

The inter relationship of population health and economic development is well- established in growth theories. There are ample research studies showing impact of health shocks on nations and its economic conditions. Present study attempted to measure the impact of health shock created by drug addiction and abuse in the state of Punjab on its overall economic condition. A cross sectional study was conducted in public de-addiction and rehabilitation facilities in selected districts of Punjab to examine the socio-economic, demographic and epidemiological determinants of drug addiction in the state. The study found that most addicts fall in age category of 15-45 years, addicted to opioid-based drugs, working as agriculture labour primarily and alarming trend of rising ATS addiction among the youth. The study further examined the financial burden of OOPE on treatment/rehabilitation on household income and various coping mechanisms in addition to understanding the primary burden of consuming illicit drugs. The burden of premature deaths and disability is measured in terms of Years of Life Lost and Years Lived with Disability and the overall burden of drug addiction in Punjab in terms of WHO s recognised metric called DALY. It is found that around 98 person-years per 100,000 years are lost due to premature deaths related to drug addiction in Punjab and around 4807 person-years per 100,000 years are lost due to disability caused by drug addiction in Punjab. The study monetised the loss for up to 2.2% of GSDP in 2018-19, which is a big figure. Hence, policy interventions from both the demand and supply sides are urgently required in the state to improve the quality of the labour force. newline