OBJECTIVES

: Diabetes is considered as one of the top public health priorities in Slovakia. This pandemic is fuelled by the growing prevalence of obesity and unhealthy lifestyle. In almost 30 years, the number of patients with diabetes has risen by 290% (122 000 in 1988 compared to 350 000 in 2017). It is not only the problem for healthcare professionals, but it is becoming local and global economic nightmare due to continually growing costs.

METHODS

: Our goal was to look at available drug consumption data in Slovakia (National Health Information Center) from 2007 till 2017 and look for trends in consumption. We performed detailed costs analysis of reimbursed drugs for diabetes treatment. Available data were associated with ATC groups A10A and A10B. We focused on cumulative drug costs in packs and value considering insulin as well as non-insulin therapy.

RESULTS

: Overall consumption of drugs for diabetes had growing tendency where number of packs used by diabetic patients in 2017 was 13,3% higher (+335 087 packs) compared to 2007 (2 841 187 vs 2 506 100 packs, respectively). Total consumption of reimbursed drugs for diabetes was 73,5 million EUR in 2017 compared to 29,9 million EUR in 2007 (+245%). The total cumulative cost associated with diabetes treatment in Slovakia from 2007 till 2017 was estimated at the level of 600 million €. From total Slovak drug consumption last year, approx. 5,2% were used only for diabetes treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

: With ageing society, healthcare system has to deal with growing demand for innovations and continual increase in prevalence of chronic diseases. We think it is inevitable to review existing epidemiological and costs trends on regular basis to be able to plan for the future. With some of our results, we wanted to stress the importance of regular and adequate cost analysis for public health spending planning.