‘Assess value of life’ of elderly coronavirus patients when reintroducing lockdowns, urges Tony Abbott

Governments should consider “uncomfortable questions about a level of death we might have to live with” when it comes to coronavirus lockdowns to restart economies and protect individual liberty, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has said.

The right-wing politician, who is tipped to assist the UK government as a trade envoy, claimed the financial response to the pandemic had far exceeded the amount governments would typically pay for life-saving drugs.

Mr Abbott claimed the Covid-19 response in his own country could be valued at $2 million AUD per life saved when measured against the 150,000 deaths predicted in the country at the start of the pandemic. He added that if the average age of those who would have died was 80, this could be broken down to $200,000 AUD per quality life year for those saved from the virus.

And speaking at the Policy Exchange think tank in London, he went on to criticise the response in his own nation and countries around the world for reactivating lockdowns when faced with spikes in cases — adding that initial restrictions “could have been for a few weeks as opposed to a few months” to keep the economy functioning.

He said: “Six months into this pandemic, the aim in most countries is still ‘protect almost every life at almost any cost’ — with renewed lockdown most governments’ instinctive response to any increase in the virus.”

Accusing regional officials in Australia of operating “health dictatorships” with stringent lockdown measures, Mr Abbott went on to suggest governments should focus on applying a cost-benefit analysis towards the value of human life.

Mr Abbott said: “It’s a bad time for anyone with the virus, but it is also a bad time for people that would rather not be dictated to by officials, however well meaning, or anyone who instinctively chafes under a policy that’s clear unsustainable, yet may be kept up indefinitely in the absence of an effective vaccine.

He added: “In this climate of fear, it was hard for governments to ask ‘how much is a life worth?’ because every life is precious, and every death is sad, but that has never stopped families sometimes electing to make elderly relatives as comfortable as possible while nature takes its course.

“And likewise people anticipating serious long-term health problems sometimes elect not to be resuscitated.

“When a trauma victim comes into an emergency department, almost no effort is spared to keep that person alive, but when a cancer patient wants access to very expensive new drugs, governments normally ask tough questions about how much good life will be gained before making it available, and what the alternative might be.

“So far, with Sweden the most notable exception, governments have approached the pandemic like trauma doctors instead of thinking like health economists trained to pose uncomfortable questions about a level of death we might have to live with.”

Mr Abbott declined to comment on reports that he has been appointed joint president of Britain’s relaunched Board of Trade — stating that it was “not yet official”

Whitehall officials have said that no decisions have yet been made.

Additional reporting by agencies