Manila, Philippines - Heart attack and strokes are among the top causes of death in the Philippines. On the other hand, high cholesterol (dyslipidemia) is one of the important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases like stroke and heart attack. Medications for dyslipidemia presents an additional financial burden to the resource-constrained Filipino population whose health care is obtained mostly through out-of-pocket payments.
In the setting of secondary prevention, treatment with 40 mg simvastatin daily was the most cost-effective option compared to the other therapies if the lower-priced generic counterparts were used, while pravastatin 40 mg daily was the most cost-effective alternative if the higher-priced innovator drugs were used. In all sensitivity analyses, gemfibrozil was strongly dominated by the statins.
The study “
Economic Evaluation of Lipid-Lowering Therapy in the Secondary Prevention Setting in the Philippines” was done in the National Capital Region, Philippines to determine the cost-effectiveness of lipid lowering therapy in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular events in the Philippines.
In the base case analysis (primary analysis using the lowest cost in the range of cost estimates, etc.), Simvastatin was the most cost-effective option (best option considering cost and quality and quantity of life, i.e., quality-adjusted life years) compared to Pravastatin, Atorvastatin and Gemfibrozil (medications used for lowering cholesterol). Choosing Pravastatin over Simvastatin, one needs to spend more and would get less, while if Atorvastatin will be used instead of Simvastatin, the additional cost for every quality-adjusted life year would be P121,654.
Dr. Tumanan-Mendoza, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines, states “Simvastatin and Pravastatin are the more cost-effective options compared to Atorvastatin and Gemfibrozil for dyslipidemia for secondary prevention in the Philippines (as of the time of the study).”
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