OBJECTIVES: This pragmatic review provides a summary of the recently published economic cost of four preventable diseases in the UK (type 2 diabetes, obesity, myocardial infarction, and stroke).

METHODS: A MEDLINE (OvidSP) search strategy was designed to identify UK studies reporting economic costs. The search was restricted to UK papers from 2016 onwards. 1,590 records were screened based on title/abstract. 86 were reviewed for eligibility and 20 included.

RESULTS: 17 studies were extracted, including retrospective studies preceding 2016 with some overlap between diseases. Comparability was difficult due to the variety of methods and models being used, for example:

One diabetes study estimated costs of >£3Bn associated with poor glycaemic control, and another estimated costs of £5.6Bn/year for hospital care.

Obesity studies estimated incremental per obese person costs compared with the general population and by magnitude of obesity but did not estimate an overall direct and societal cost.

Myocardial infarction studies also estimated incremental per patient costs. One study estimated a potential saving of £68Bn to the health and social care system over 25 years if people at high risk of cardiovascular disease were detected and managed.

Atrial fibrillation is estimated to cost the UK health system between £8 and £16Bn. A stroke study estimated the annual UK health and social care cost will be £17Bn in 2025, while a 2017 European study estimated the annual direct and societal cost to the UK at €7.5Bn.

CONCLUSIONS: These representative preventable diseases impose strong collective pressure on the healthcare system and are costly. These examples also show that delayed action increases the economic burden. Longer-term care represents a significant burden on a constrained health and social care system which the Covid-19 pandemic has further highlighted as fragile. Action should be taken now against preventable disease to help protect the NHS from future shocks.