Evaluating the centralized purchasing policy for the treatment of hepatitis C: The Colombian CASE.

The high cost of drugs for hepatitis C limits access and adherence to treatment. In 2017, the Colombian health care system decided to design a strategy. It consisted of centralized purchasing, regulations, clinical practice guidelines, and direct observation of the treatment and follow-up of patients.

COST-UTILITY ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY PROPHYLAXIS, COMPARED WITH ON-DEMAND TREATMENT, FOR PATIENTS WITH SEVERE HEMOPHILIA TYPE A IN COLOMBIA.

Objectives: This article presents a cost-utility analysis from the Colombian health system perspective comparing primary prophylaxis to on-demand treatment using exogenous clotting factor VIII (FVIII) for patients with severe hemophilia type A.

Methods: We developed a Markov model to estimate expected costs and outcomes (measured as quality-adjusted life-years, QALYs) for each strategy. Transition probabilities were estimated using published studies; utility weights were obtained from a sample of Colombian patients with hemophilia and costs were gathered using local data.