A solution to treatment non-compliance

Gerardo D. came home depressed by what his doctor told him. He was diagnosed to have pulmonary tuberculosis or PTB a year ago. He took his medicines erratically and even discontinued it after a few months when he felt better against his doctor’s advice.

He did not report back to his physician until he started losing weight again with cough and fever, especially at night. After doing x-rays and sputum examinations, his doctor said that his PTB has not only recurred, but has gotten worse. And there is a chance that he may be resistant to usual anti-TB therapy.

Gerardo did not comply with his doctor’s advice last year because he wanted to save on money. Although he earned a fairly decent salary as a government employee, the cost of his medicines was competing with other needs in his family’s budget. Now, he realizes that non-compliance with the treatment of chronic diseases like tuberculosis, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol problems, may turn out to be more expensive in the long run. What’s worse, it can even imperil one’s health and one’s life.

Many Filipino patients are like Gerardo. They are confronted with the need to allocate part of their monthly income for their health needs. Even patients occupying managerial positions and earning relatively high salaries are feeling the economic crunch and financially hurting at the high cost of medicines.

In recent years, doctors have noted that Filipino patients have become more health-conscious, but they also want to be more actively involved in decisions concerning their health. They ask their doctors more questions on the necessity of laboratory procedures and actions, as well as the cost of their medicines. Essentially, they are practicing pharmacoeconomics.

The idea of pharmacoeconomics is to help the patient be able to afford his medicines so he can take them for a longer period of time or for as long as necessary to treat his medical problems.

In pharmacoeconomics, the price of a drug does not show its real cost. A brand of medicine marketed at a lower price but is not effective may cause additional expenses in terms of hospitalization. The complications which may arise from the use of an ineffective drug will also result in diminished income and productivity of a patient.

Pharmacoeconomics offers an alternative to the more expensive drugs, with the goal of making sure that the medicine is taken by the patient strictly according to his doctor’s prescription.

Choosing drugs which are therapeutic equivalents is of increasing concern, especially now that chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, tuberculosis and asthma have reached epidemic proportions. Through pharmacoeconomics, clinicians and patients have an affordable treatment option which is proven to be safe, effective and bioequivalent to the originator product.

The various divisions of Unilab, a leading pharmaceutical company in the country, is committed to helping improve healthcare delivery to the average Filipino family by providing them with high-quality and affordable medicines for common medical problems.