Biological therapy in inflammatory rheumatic diseases: issues in Central and Eastern European countries

Márta Péntek, Gyula Poór, Piotr Wiland, Martina Olejárová, Marek Brzosko, Catalin Codreanu, Valentin Brodszky and László Gulácsi

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2014, vol. 15, issue 1, 35-43

Abstract: Biological drugs revolutionized the treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Access to treatment presents substantial variability across Europe. The economic level of a particular country as well as administrative restrictions have been proved as determining factors of biological drug uptake. The objective of this paper was to provide an overview of biological treatment in six selected Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, namely in the Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The literature is summarized with regard to the epidemiology, disease burden and use of biological agents in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Moreover, an estimate is provided on the prevalence and number of patients with biological treatment based on international and local sources. In view of the limited availability of information and uncertainty in data, there is an urgent need for development of systematic and comprehensive data collection in inflammatory rheumatic diseases in CEE countries. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis; Ankylosing spondylitis; Psoriatic arthritis; Biological therapy; Health services accessibility; Central and Eastern Europe; I140 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:15:y:2014:i:1:p:35-43

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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-014-0592-6

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