PMU34 - PRICE ANALYSIS OF VACCIENS MARKETED IN THE GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COUNTRIES: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

To provide an overview of the prices of vaccines in three GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates). Also to compare prices for each country to Saudi Arabia. Regulatory information and prices for vaccines approved in three countries were obtained from ministries of health and food and drug authorities as of January 2018. Retail prices were used as unit of analysis. Prices were converted to 2018 Saudi riyals (SR). Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney-Wilcoxon rank and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to compare the price differences between the countries. Statistical significance level was set at 0.05. There were 53, 37 and 30 vaccines with different strengths and formulation approved in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait respectively. There was a significant difference in vaccines prices between the three countries (p= 0.01). In Saudi Arabia, the vaccines prices ranged from 16.00 SR to 636.00 SR with a median price of 81.00 SR. In UAE, the vaccines prices ranged from 13.00 SR to 1356.00 SR with a median price of 129.00 SR. In Kuwait, the vaccines prices ranged from 18.00 SR to 570.00 SR with a median price of 109.00 SR. By comparing the vaccines prices in UAE to those in Saudi Arabia, we found the prices were lower significantly in Saudi Arabia (p=0.03). In addition, the vaccines prices were lower in Saudi Arabia but were not significant as compared to prices in Kuwait (p =0.4). Prices of vaccines were significantly differ between GCC countries. Prices were lower in Saudi Arabia as compared to Kuwait and UAE. Higher vaccine prices will ultimately affect at the accessibility and affordability. Harmonization of vaccines prices is necessary to improve the access GCC region. Future research should include all six countries in GCC region, and examine difference in other pricing benchmarks including wholesaler prices