Poles' reluctance towards flu shots takes toll on economy
PR dla Zagranicy
Alicja Baczyńska
29.10.2015 10:56
No more than three to five percent of citizens opt for vaccines against influenza each year.
Photo: Flickr.com/Lance McCord
As a result of the unabated disease, the direct costs incurred by the Polish economy equal PLN 43.5 million (over EUR 10 million), consulting firm EY reveals.
The expenditures include medication, hospitalisation and diagnostics, daily Gazeta Wyborcza indicates.
However, if incidence is up, the costs skyrocket to PLN 730 million (EUR 170 million).
The outlays are higher still, and reaching billions of złotys, if we factor in external costs, such as absence from work, the paper adds.
Some three million Poles have been contracting flu annually since 2013, marking the highest morbidity in the country in 20 years. (aba/rk)
Source: Gazeta Wyborcza