Penny and pound wise: pharmacoeconomics from a governmental perspective.

Because of growing pressure on the healthcare budget in The Netherlands, appropriate justification of current expenditures and future investments in public healthcare are becoming increasingly important. Therefore, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is expanding its use of pharmacoeconomic evaluation in informed reimbursement decision-making of new pharmaceuticals. Since June 2002, pharmaceutical companies have been invited to submit a pharmacoeconomic dossier with their reimbursement applications of innovative drugs.