27 July 2009

The Victorian Neutrauma Initiatives (VNI) released a landmark report that reveals for the first time the high cost of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) in Australia.

The report, completed by Access Economics on behalf of the Victorian Neurotrauma Initiative (VNI), shows that the lifetime costs of brain and spinal cord injuries occurring in 2008 alone is $10.5 billion.

The report examines all financial costs – the huge cost to the individual, unpaid costs by their carers, the significant cost to the government and the hidden costs to the wider community. The report also highlights that the direct financial costs of brain and spinal cord injury are comparable or greater than the costs of conditions considered high cost, such as dementia and multiple sclerosis.

There was good news in this report. It demonstrated that two interventions are cost-effective and help improve the lives of individuals living with brain and spinal cord injury. The report found that the use of saline to resuscitate individuals with traumatic brain injury was cost-saving and the use of continuous positive airway pressure to treat sleep disorders in quadriplegia was cost effective.

The research demonstrating the effectiveness of both interventions was funded by the VNI and the TAC. We encourage you to review the report and the interesting data presented.

Click here to view the media release and the report

Melinda Rockell
Executive Officer, Victorian Neurotrauma Initiative (VNI)
Acting Senior Manager, Health Research, Health Services Group

Associate Professor Alex Collie
Director, Victorian Neurotrauma Initiative (VNI)
Acting CEO, Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research