PS-P07-10: ACCESSIBILITY OF SUBSIDIZED HYPERTENSION MEDICATION IN ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Abstract

Objective: Mongolia has a total of 3.1 million population. Ulaanbaatar is the capital city with half of the population has migrated into the city and currently residing. For the past 3 years from 2019 to 2021, Mongolian government increased the healthcare budget for hypertension medication from 5,338,979 USD to 6,874,762 USD. The aim of the study is to examine the accessibility of subsidized hypertension medication in 7 districts of Ulaanbaatar between these years. Design and method: The data was collected from Health Insurance Fund database spanning from 2019 to 2021. The analysis was performed on Rstudio. The prevalence was calculated from 2019 Ulaanbaatar hypertension prevalence data. Results: The total population of Ulaanbaatar had increased from 1462000 in 2019 to 1534793 in 2021. Overall, the accessibility of subsidized hypertension medication increased from 31.2% to 40.7% between 2019 and 2021. The district with the most population, Bayanzurkh district, increased accessibility from 23.3% in 2019 to 31.3% in 2021. While the least populated district, Baganuur district increased accessibility to medication from 32.6% to 42.9%. Conclusions: In conclusion, the increase in healthcare budget had a positive effect on the accessibility of the subsidized hypertension medication in the city of Ulaanbaatar across all districts over the past 3 years. However, with improved accessibility of medication, more studies need to be done to assess hypertension control in Ulaanbaatar.