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Economic Burden of Illness in Canada

June 20, 2014

Public Health Agency of Canada – The Economic Burden of Illness in Canada (EBIC) is a comprehensive cost-of-illness study that provides estimates of the burden of illness and injury by cost type, cost component, diagnostic category, sex, age group and province/territory. The primary goal of EBIC is to supply objective and comparable information on the magnitude of the economic burden or cost of illness and injury in Canada based on standard reporting units and methods. EBIC is the only comprehensive Canadian cost-of-illness study that provides comparable costing information for all major illnesses. Supplementing other health indicators, EBIC provides important evidence to support public health policy and program planning.

Health Canada published the first edition of the Economic Burden of Illness in Canada, 1986 (EBIC 1986), in the year 1991; subsequently, the Economic Burden of Illness in Canada, 1993 (EBIC 1993) and the Economic Burden of Illness in Canada, 1998 (EBIC 1998) were published in 1997 and 2002 respectively (1–3). An unpublished version, the Economic Burden of Illness in Canada, 2000 (EBIC 2000), was also completed (4). Responsibility for the production of EBIC was transferred to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) after creation of the organization in 2004. The demand for current cost-of-illness information along with the positive feedback associated with previous EBIC reports contributed to the decision to complete a new edition, the Economic Burden of Illness in Canada, 2005–2008 (EBIC 2005–2008). The EBIC 2005–2008 report and its complementary web-based tool (accessed at www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ebic-femc/index-eng.php) offer Canadian cost-of-illness estimates by EBIC categories (diagnostic category, sex, age group and province/territory).

For EBIC 2005–2008, a prevalence-based approach was used to estimate all costs. A prevalence-based cost-of-illness study estimates the total cost of a disease incurred in a given year regardless of the date of disease onset.

For the full report, click here.