Clipping Board » Medical Affairs and Administration ─ Medical system, pharmaceuticals, and medical community-related reports
【China Times, Huang Tianru/Taipei Report】2009.03.24
How much medicine do Taiwanese consume in a year? National Health Insurance (NHI) drug expenses alone amount to NT$125 billion! Among these, medications for the so-called "diseases of affluence"—hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia—dominate the top ten list, ranking first, second, third, fifth, eighth, and ninth, with total costs reaching NT$32.3 billion.
Huang Zhaoming, Deputy Director of the NHI Bureau's Medical Review and Pharmaceutical Group, stated that last year's NHI drug expenditures reached NT$125 billion, a 6.9% increase from the previous year. The top-ranked drug, the calcium channel blocker Amlodipine (represented by brands like "Norvasc"), has held the number one spot for eight consecutive years due to its dual benefits of lowering blood pressure and protecting the heart, with annual costs exceeding NT$4.4 billion.
Huang Zhaoming analyzed that Taiwan's aging population is the primary reason why medications for the "three highs" (hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia) consistently dominate the NHI's top ten drug list. "These chronic conditions don't go away, so patients must continue taking medication indefinitely."
Breaking down the costs by condition, last year alone, NT$19.5 billion was spent on hypertension treatments, NT$5.6 billion on hyperlipidemia, and NT$7.2 billion on diabetes medications.
Aside from the large number of patients, some drugs made the list due to their high unit prices.
The most striking example is Imatinib (Gleevec), primarily used to treat leukemia. With each pill costing NT$700–800 and a typical daily dosage of four pills, the monthly cost reaches NT$90,000. Unsurprisingly, it consumed over NT$1.1 billion of NHI funds last year, jumping from ninth place the previous year to seventh.
Huang Zhaoming emphasized that while Gleevec is the only targeted cancer therapy or immunomodulator to crack the top ten, the overall NHI expenditure on such drugs has been growing by 10–20% annually due to rising cancer cases. Last year alone, these drugs cost NT$13.3 billion—a staggering figure.
Overall, the top six drugs on last year's NHI list remained unchanged from the previous year. The newcomers at eighth and ninth places—Pioglitazone (Actos) for diabetes and Losartan (Cozaar) for hypertension—likely owe their rankings to prescribing trends. Tenth-place Risperidone (Risperdal), an antipsychotic, also debuted on the list.
Meanwhile, the once-popular sleeping pill Zolpidem (Stilnox), a former "regular" on the list, dropped from eighth place two years ago to thirteenth. Huang Zhaoming explained this was due to NHI tightening controls amid concerns about misuse.
Source: http://health. chinatimes. com/ contents. aspx? cid=5,63& id=5414
High Blood Pressure Drugs Cost 32.3 Billion Last Year
How much medicine do Taiwanese consume in a year? National Health Insurance (NHI) drug expenses alone amount to NT$125 billion! Among these, medications for the so-called "diseases of affluence"—hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia—dominate the top ten list, ranking first, second, third, fifth, eighth, and ninth, with total costs reaching NT$32.3 billion.
Huang Zhaoming, Deputy Director of the NHI Bureau's Medical Review and Pharmaceutical Group, stated that last year's NHI drug expenditures reached NT$125 billion, a 6.9% increase from the previous year. The top-ranked drug, the calcium channel blocker Amlodipine (represented by brands like "Norvasc"), has held the number one spot for eight consecutive years due to its dual benefits of lowering blood pressure and protecting the heart, with annual costs exceeding NT$4.4 billion.
Huang Zhaoming analyzed that Taiwan's aging population is the primary reason why medications for the "three highs" (hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia) consistently dominate the NHI's top ten drug list. "These chronic conditions don't go away, so patients must continue taking medication indefinitely."
Breaking down the costs by condition, last year alone, NT$19.5 billion was spent on hypertension treatments, NT$5.6 billion on hyperlipidemia, and NT$7.2 billion on diabetes medications.
Aside from the large number of patients, some drugs made the list due to their high unit prices.
The most striking example is Imatinib (Gleevec), primarily used to treat leukemia. With each pill costing NT$700–800 and a typical daily dosage of four pills, the monthly cost reaches NT$90,000. Unsurprisingly, it consumed over NT$1.1 billion of NHI funds last year, jumping from ninth place the previous year to seventh.
Huang Zhaoming emphasized that while Gleevec is the only targeted cancer therapy or immunomodulator to crack the top ten, the overall NHI expenditure on such drugs has been growing by 10–20% annually due to rising cancer cases. Last year alone, these drugs cost NT$13.3 billion—a staggering figure.
Overall, the top six drugs on last year's NHI list remained unchanged from the previous year. The newcomers at eighth and ninth places—Pioglitazone (Actos) for diabetes and Losartan (Cozaar) for hypertension—likely owe their rankings to prescribing trends. Tenth-place Risperidone (Risperdal), an antipsychotic, also debuted on the list.
Meanwhile, the once-popular sleeping pill Zolpidem (Stilnox), a former "regular" on the list, dropped from eighth place two years ago to thirteenth. Huang Zhaoming explained this was due to NHI tightening controls amid concerns about misuse.
Source: http://health. chinatimes. com/ contents. aspx? cid=5,63& id=5414