IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reecon/v77y2023i4p526-530.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Balancing resource relief and critical health needs through reduced-risk product transition

Author

Listed:
  • Moscone, Francesco

Abstract

This paper explores regional disparities in avoidable mortalities and hospital discharges, influenced by factors associated with high-risk behaviors such as excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, and inadequate physical activity levels. We gathered data from various official sources (ISTAT and Eurostat) and conducted a comprehensive panel data regression analysis to investigate the intricate relationships between these variables. The study found that a higher prevalence of smokers is associated with increased avoidable mortality and hospital discharges. Specifically, a 1% decrease in the percentage of smokers led to an average reduction of 12.76 hospital discharges per 10,000 inhabitants. This reduction translated to an estimated total saving of approximately 331 million Euros across all regions in 2020. Similarly, excessive wine consumption was linked to higher rates of preventable mortality and hospital discharges. A one unit drop in the number of heavy drinkers per 1,000 inhabitants would result in a saving of about 60 million Euros. Furthermore, the variable indicating the prevalence of individuals aged 3 and above who never engage in sports was positively correlated with adverse health outcomes. A 1% decrease in the number of individuals in this category would lead to a saving of approximately 223 million Euros. In parallel, we analyzed pathologies associated with smoking, which include lung cancer, respiratory ailments, and cerebrovascular diseases. Moreover, we explored the potential benefits of transitioning from high-risk to reduced-risk products, aiming at alleviating the strain on the healthcare system while reallocating resources to address critical health needs. The results suggest that if 50 percent of smokers transitioned to reduced-risk products such as e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco, the NHS could potentially save 722 million Euros in terms of smoking-related illnesses. Among the healthcare systems examined, Lombardy stands to gain the most from this transition, with an estimated annual saving of approximately 140 million Euros. The findings indicate that there is potential for further savings in the National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, NHS) by advocating for a reduction in high-risk behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Moscone, Francesco, 2023. "Balancing resource relief and critical health needs through reduced-risk product transition," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(4), pages 526-530.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:77:y:2023:i:4:p:526-530
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rie.2023.10.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090944323000613
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rie.2023.10.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. F. Moscone & E. Tosetti & G. Vittadini, 2012. "Social interaction in patients’ hospital choice: evidence from Italy," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 175(2), pages 453-472, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baltagi, Badi H. & Yen, Yin-Fang, 2014. "Hospital treatment rates and spillover effects: Does ownership matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 193-202.
    2. Daniel Avdic & Tugba Bueyuekdurmus & Giuseppe Moscelli & Adam Pilny & Ieva Sriubaite, 2018. "Subjective and objective quality reporting and choice of hospital: Evidence from maternal care services in Germany," CINCH Working Paper Series 1803, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health.
    3. Atella, Vincenzo & Belotti, Federico & Depalo, Domenico & Piano Mortari, Andrea, 2014. "Measuring spatial effects in the presence of institutional constraints: The case of Italian Local Health Authority expenditure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 232-241.
    4. Maria Alessandra Antonelli & Giorgia Marini, 2023. "Good health with good institutions. An empirical analysis for italian regions," Public Finance Research Papers 61, Istituto di Economia e Finanza, DSGE, Sapienza University of Rome.
    5. Lippi Bruni, Matteo & Ugolini, Cristina & Verzulli, Rossella, 2021. "Should I wait or should I go? Travelling versus waiting for better healthcare," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sabatini, Fabio, 2015. "Structural social capital and health in Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 129-142.
    7. Martin Gaynor & Carol Propper & Stephan Seiler, 2012. "Free to Choose? Reform and Demand Response in the English National Health Service," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 12/297, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    8. Federico Belotti & Gordon Hughes & Andrea Piano Mortari, 2017. "Spatial panel-data models using Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 17(1), pages 139-180, March.
    9. Stephen Gibbons & Eric Neumayer & Richard Perkins, 2013. "Student Satisfaction, League Tables and University Applications," SERC Discussion Papers 0142, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    10. Rita Santos & Hugh Gravelle & Carol Propper, 2013. "Does quality affect patients’ choice of doctor? Evidence from the UK," Working Papers 088cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    11. Rita Santos & Hugh Gravelle & Carol Propper, 2013. "Does quality affect patients’ choice of doctor? Evidence from the UK," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 13/306, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    12. Avdic, Daniel & Moscelli, Giuseppe & Pilny, Adam & Sriubaite, Ieva, 2019. "Subjective and objective quality and choice of hospital: Evidence from maternal care services in Germany," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    13. Kai Shen Lim & Wei Aun Yap & Winnie Yip, 2022. "Consumer choice and public‐private providers: The role of perceived prices," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(9), pages 1898-1925, September.
    14. M. Lippi Bruni & C. Ugolini & R. Verzulli, 2018. "Disentangling the effect of waiting times on hospital choice: Evidence from a panel data analysis," Working Papers wp1118, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    15. Paolo Berta & Gianmaria Martini & Francesco Moscone & Giorgio Vittadini, 2016. "The association between asymmetric information, hospital competition and quality of healthcare: evidence from Italy," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 179(4), pages 907-926, October.
    16. Gravelle, Hugh & Santos, Rita & Siciliani, Luigi, 2014. "Does a hospital's quality depend on the quality of other hospitals? A spatial econometrics approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 203-216.
    17. Guccio, C. & Lisi, D., 2014. "Social interactions in inappropriate behavior for childbirth services: Theory and evidence from the Italian hospital sector," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 14/28, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    18. Liange Zhao & Jianfeng Zou & Zhijian Zhang, 2020. "Does China’s Municipal Solid Waste Source Separation Program Work? Evidence from the Spatial-Two-Stage-Least Squares Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, February.
    19. Claudio Pinto, 2017. "Perceived quality and formation of inter-regional networks of health care migration," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 7(3), pages 1-5.
    20. Guccio, Calogero & Lisi, Domenico, 2016. "Thus do all. Social interactions in inappropriate behavior for childbirth services in a highly decentralized healthcare system," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1-17.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:77:y:2023:i:4:p:526-530. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.