The Movember Institute of Men’s Health has just released a new report, “The Real Face of Men’s Health”, examining the state of men’s health in Canada,
In 2023, five conditions – coronary heart disease (CHD), colorectal cancer, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and suicide – were responsible for the greatest number of years of life lost to ill health among Canadian men.
HealthLumen was commissioned to carry out the health economic modelling for this report. Our modelling showed that if all preventable cases of these five conditions had been avoided in men in 2023, Canada could have saved $12.4 billion CAD.
In 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) account for approximately 75% of all deaths worldwide.
For pharmaceutical and biotech companies working in CVRMs, understanding future disease burden is essential to long-term strategy in order to inform decisions regarding where, when and how to invest resources for maximum impact of return. This is important when developing therapeutic interventions, but also for identifying where those interventions can have the greatest impact, and for making the case to act sooner.
In this context, epidemiological modelling is playing a growing role in evidence generation.
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) affects more than 10% of the population worldwide and is often associated with other conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. However, rare kidney diseases, although individually rare, collectively exert a notable impact on kidney health – accounting for an estimated 5–10% of CKD cases.
Despite their impact, rare kidney diseases often remain underdiagnosed and under-recognised within CKD care and policy frameworks. This raises critical questions: Why do so many rare kidney conditions go undiagnosed? Could rare kidney diseases account for more CKD cases than previously thought? And what would earlier diagnosis and targeted intervention mean for patients, health systems, and payers? This article aims to address these questions.
One of the main challenges faced by all companies conducting strategic planning for rare diseases is obtaining accurate data on the size of these often complex patient populations. The challenge of accurately estimating the prevalence of rare diseases is illustrated in the literature, where prevalence figures often span strikingly wide ranges – sometimes varying by orders of magnitude between studies. This level of uncertainty affects every step of the molecule-to-market planning cycle. The growing availability of large-scale genetic databases offers a solution to close the gap on wide ranging rare disease prevalence estimates, and can complement the data derived from other sources including the literature and information gathered from clinical practice.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major global health issue – affecting an estimated 1 in 10 people – yet it is frequently overlooked on health agendas worldwide. In its early stages, CKD is often asymptomatic, and many individuals are unaware that they have CKD until the disease has progressed to later stages, where it becomes harder and more costly to treat – with patients facing the prospect of dialysis or kidney transplant. This makes early CKD detection critical to improving patient outcomes and reducing the growing health and economic burden of CKD worldwide. Recognising this, the World Kidney Day campaign this year is centred around the theme: “Detect early, protect kidney health.”
Rare Disease Day presents a time to reflect on the progress made in understanding and addressing the unique challenges that rare diseases bring – and the hurdles that remain. Over the past year, several significant developments have shaped the rare disease landscape, from new regulatory policies and technological advancements to major advocacy efforts.
Fabry disease is a rare genetic X-linked disease caused by pathogenic genetic variants in the GLA gene. As with other rare genetic conditions, of which there are thought to be over 7000, accurately determining the prevalence of Fabry disease is challenging. Using HealthLumen’s genetic database mining methodology, our recent study suggests that Fabry disease prevalence in the US may considerably exceed previous estimates.
Addressing growing rates of obesity and its increasing strain on healthcare systems has become a key focus for many public health strategies around the globe. As part of the evolving landscape of obesity interventions, GLP-1 receptor agonists (commonly referred to as GLP-1 agonists) have emerged as a promising pharmacological solution. But how effective are GLP-1 agonists as part of a broader public health obesity strategy?
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, drinking habits shifted significantly for many. But what happens when those pandemic-era drinking habits stick around? Recent research from HealthLumen explores the long-term consequences of changes in alcohol consumption during the pandemic, and the findings are stark: if those patterns continue until the end of 2035, England could face nearly 10,000 additional premature deaths, over 147,000 excess cases of disease, and £1.2 billion extra in healthcare costs.
Earlier diagnosis can make all the difference for individuals with genetic diseases. Delayed diagnosis hinders timely disease management and treatment access, meaning that progression to late-stage disease can occur more rapidly, likely leading to a significant increase in the health and economic burden of these conditions for patients, their families, and healthcare systems. Screening programs aim to identify individuals with genetic conditions earlier, with cascade screening in particular providing one way to help transform outcomes for patients.
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