Lung cancer is a costly disease. It claims more lives in the U.S. than the next three most common types of cancer combined: colon, breast and pancreatic. And the chance of surviving lung cancer is equally disappointing — an underwhelming 16.6 percent, compared with 64.2 percent for colon cancer and 89.2 percent for breast cancer — calling for heightened attention to the deadly disease.
Not only is lung cancer physically and emotionally taxing, it also imposes an astounding financial toll on both the person it afflicts and the rest of society. According to the most recent National Institutes of Health estimates, the disease accounted for $12.1 billion of total cancer care costs in 2010. Five years earlier, premature deaths from lung cancer among adults aged 20 and older resulted in $36.1 billion in lost productivity.
Although many governments and organizations have implemented various measures, such as smoke-free bans and tobacco product regulations, to curb the prevalence of lung cancer, another 224,210 new patients were expected to be diagnosed with the illness this year alone.
Advancing the cause of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, WalletHub ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of their efforts to combat the expensive societal and economic impacts of the disease.
(NEW YORK IS IN THE TOP SIX OVERALL.)
More from WalletHub.
No comments:
Post a Comment