Costs of Hemophilia in Ukraine

OBJECTIVES: Hemophilia is estimated to occur in about one in 10,000 births, and the disease is fairly expensive. Therefore, the present study aims to calculate the costs of hemophilia in Ukraine.

METHODS: The costs of hemophilia for inhibitor patients and non-inhibitors patients were calculated. Age distribution, weight by age, bleeding rates and types, frequency of joint damage, physician visits and emergency room visits, medicine dose per kilogram, and mortality rates among hemophilia patients were obtained from expert opinions and a literature review. Economic data on the costs of care were obtained from Fees for Contracted Paid Health Services, a list published by Kiev Regional Clinical Hospital and Theofania Clinical Hospital. Package prices for medicines were obtained based on the official prices determined by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

RESULTS: The analyses showed that, for non-inhibitor patients, the annual cost per kilogram was 12,524₴, and the average annual cost was 713,861₴. For patients with inhibitors, the annual cost per kilogram was 144,715₴, and the average annual cost per patient was 8,248,739₴.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study show that hemophilia patients with inhibitors have much higher healthcare costs than those without inhibitors in Ukraine. In patients with hemophilia, weight control can help prevent joint damage and other related diseases and reduce the cost of treatment.