Onkológia 1/2014

Financial expenditures in the context of pharmacotherapy of oncological diseases

In the Slovak Republic, oncological disease morbidity showed a significantly rising tendency over the last few decades. The patient survival rate concerning some oncological diagnoses relates to several factors, such as early diagnostics, modernisation of diagnostic methods, progress in surgical therapy, as well as improving accessibility of innovative medicines. For long-term expenditures planning is necessary to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of innovative, costly drugs to assess efficiency of innovative expensive medicines used in current medical practice, together with the rate of how the costs incurred affect improved prognosis for oncological patients. According to the National Health Information Centre (NCZI) from 2012, the financial expenditures of health insurance funds for oncological drugs reached (ATC group L01 and L02) within Slovakia the level of 130,1 mil. EUR. It represents 13,0 % of total financial expenditures for all drugs. Among the Top 10 drugs based on the financial expenditures of health insurance funds are four oncological drugs. Oncological drugs launched in Slovakia after the year 2002 respresent in 2012 the level of 56 % of total finacial expenditures for oncological drugs.

Keywords: cancer, drug costs, drugs expenditures.