Increased use of medicines can have significant economic benefits including reduced hospital care costs, a reduction in worker absentee levels and increased life expectancy, the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association claimed yesterday.
The current focus by the Department of Health on the cost of medicine was unbalanced, the IPHA said. It failed to take into account indirect savings from correct diagnosis and increased use of medicines.
"Healthcare decision-makers tend to concentrate on the cost of medicines, but consideration must be given to the cost of not using medicines," the IPHA vice-president, Ms Mai Hanlon, said. The pharmaceutical industry is concerned about the Department of Health policy to control and reduce the General Medical Scheme medicines bill. The drug budgeting scheme was introduced in the 1980s. It encouraged GPs to reduce their GMS bills by allowing them keep a percentage of their public drugs bills for reinvestment in their practices.
Overall health expenditure in the Republic has fallen. In 1980 it was more than 9.2 per cent of GDP. By 1996 it had fallen to 7.6 per cent. The State's healthcare expenditure per capita was the fourth-lowest in the EU in 1997.
The IPHA document estimated hospital costs were £2000 per week and the economy lost 10 million working days a year at a cost of more than £600 million through absenteeism.
The document cites a study of the impact of a new drug for migraine which saved employers of those using the drug £330 per month in productivity losses. This is compared to the £33 per month cost of the drug.