Chapter 8 - Economic Evaluation of Predominant Disease in Developing Countries: Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Developing countries are facing a significant challenge to sustain their healthcare in the face of changing diseases, as well as an overwhelming and difficult economic climate. In numerous countries, economic evaluation is increasingly advocated as a tool to ensure the efficient use of resources. Taking the use of the insulin analogue as an example of predominant disease, this chapter systematically reviewed the state-of-the-art publications of economic evaluation studies in developing countries. Economic evaluation studies published until September 30, 2015, were identified from major databases and Health Technology Assessment agency reports. Only six studies were included in the final analysis. They only evaluated biphasic and long-acting insulin analogues, covering seven developing countries. There is moderate evidence of cost-effectiveness regarding biphasic and long-acting insulin analogues for type 2 diabetic patients in developing countries. However, there is a substantial gap concerning the published studies and their reporting quality, which calls for concerted efforts for developing countries to improve their capacity of conducting and employing economic evaluation studies.