OBJECTIVES : According to the WHO, about 100 million people in the world suffer from glaucoma, and the number of patients increases annually. The most severe clinical manifestation of glaucoma is the reduction in vision up to its complete loss. Pharmacotherapy of glaucoma is aimed at achieving hypotensive target intraocular pressure (IOP) and neuroprotective effect. The aim of this work is to estimate the consumption of S01L group drugs, Acute Vascular Disorder Agents, in 2014-2016 on the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market, Norway, and Estonia.

METHODS : The calculation of drug consumption for glaucoma treatment was carried out on the basis of ATC/DDD methodology and calculating DDDs/1,000 inhabitants/day (DID).

RESULTS : The assessment of anti-glaucoma drug consumption in the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine shows that a representative of β1- and β2-adrenoceptor blockers, timolol, had the largest volume of consumption in 2014-2016 (3.48 to 4.06 DID), which is explained to by its affordable price, a large number of generic drugs, and proven clinical efficacy of the drug in glaucoma treatment. A representative of prostaglandins, latanoprost (0.94 to 1.08 DID) took the second place, and timolol combinations (1.26 to 1.74 DID) were the third. In Estonia and Norway, the first place in terms of consumption also belongs to timolol, but its consumption in Estonia were 2.5 times higher (8.66 to 9.09 DID), and in Norway – 1.5 times higher (4.99 to 5.24 DID) compared to Ukraine. Combinations of timolol ranked second in terms of consumption, and latanoprost was the third. Unlike Ukraine, pilocarpine drugs and its combinations are scarcely used in European countries, and travoprost, tafluprost, dorzolamide, and brinzolamide are used more actively.

CONCLUSIONS : Comparative analysis of consumption volumes of anti-glaucoma drugs in Ukraine and in two European countries has determined that Estonia ranks the first in this list, Norway is the second, and Ukraine is the third.