Is it too expensive to fight cancer? Analysis of incremental costs and benefits of the Croatian National Plan Against Cancer

Eduard Vrdoljak, Mario Sekerija, Stjepko Plestina, Ingrid Belac Lovasic, Vera Katalinic Jankovic, Livio Garattini, Ana Bobinac () and Luka Voncina
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Eduard Vrdoljak: University Hospital of Split
Mario Sekerija: Croatian National Cancer Registry, Croatian Institute of Public Health
Stjepko Plestina: University of Zagreb
Ingrid Belac Lovasic: University of Rijeka
Vera Katalinic Jankovic: Ministry of Health
Livio Garattini: Institute for Pharmacological Research Mario Negri IRCCS
Ana Bobinac: University of Rijeka
Luka Voncina: University of Rijeka

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2021, vol. 22, issue 3, No 5, 393-403

Abstract: Abstract This cost-effectiveness study analyses the expected impacts of activities proposed by the Croatian National Plan Against Cancer (NPAC) on cancer incidence and survival rates, as related to their respective costs. We evaluated the impact of the NPAC on two main outcomes, namely, reduced incidence and the improved survival of cancer patients, expressed as life years gained (LYGs), which enabled the calculation of incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) in the form of cost per LYG. In the analysis of costs, we considered both the direct costs of NPAC activities as well as the wider indirect societal costs of cancer, thus permitting the calculation of the ICER both from the narrower national health insurer’s perspective (accounting only for the direct costs) and the wider societal perspective (accounting both for the direct and indirect costs). We estimated that on average, for all patients benefiting from the implementation of the NPAC in Croatia, an additional LYG would be yielded at the additional cost of €1.021 (societal perspective). The NPAC can, for some sites, even be considered a dominant intervention due to the negative cost/LYG ratio, meaning that it generates additional LYGs while at the same time, reducing total societal costs. Taking a narrower health insurer’s perspective (i.e., accounting only for the direct costs), the NPAC produces an additional LYG at an additional cost of €1.408. Both cost per LYG estimates can be considered cost-effective investment options.

Keywords: Economic evaluation; National plan against cancer; Cost per LYG; ICER (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-020-01262-0

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