Suva, Nov 28 (IANS): Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are estimated to cost Fiji about 591 million Fijian dollars (around 260 million US dollars) annually in both direct and indirect costs, according to the World Bank health specialist Mesulame Namedre.

The latest World Bank Fiji Health Sector Review revealed that Fijians are not reaching their full productive potential due to poor health outcomes, reported Fiji Broadcasting Corporation news website Thursday.

Life expectancy at birth in Fiji is 68 years, which is eight years lower than the average for upper-middle-income countries.

The World Bank said if trends continue, Fiji's health expenditure could rise to 7 per cent of GDP by 2050, with per capita health spending expected to increase by as much as 250 percent.

While Fiji continues to face recurrent outbreaks of infectious diseases, it is also grappling with a catastrophic rise in NCDs, Namedre said, adding that nearly 64 percent of all deaths from NCDs occur among the working-age population, Xinhua news agency reported.

He added that if Fiji does not "close the tap" on its NCD tsunami, and if public spending does not rise to meet future needs, households may forgo care, with adverse implications on equity.