Overcoming the challenges of treating haemophilia in resource-limited nations: a focus on medication access and adherence

Expert Rev Hematol. 2021 Jul 18. doi: 10.1080/17474086.2021.1957826. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBACKGROUND: Haemophilia is a high cost low volume disease. Resource limited nations (RLN) usually spend very little on health budget and most of it is spent in dealing with common ailments. Clotting products constitute more than 90 percent of the total cost of haemophilia care. The manner in which these products can be made accessible for persons with haemophilia (PWH) and how its continuous supply and distribution can be maintained and improved is described in this review.AREAS COVERED: Number of PWH in the Resource Limited Nations (RLN); minimum amount of concentrate required to keep a PWH relatively free of bleeds; the different products available for management of PWH; means and ways to minimize and optimize the concentrate usage and purchase on a budget; nonfactor therapy; ways and means to improve the management and allow better quality concentrates in higher quantities for PWH in those countries; adherence as a challenge for RLN country and ways to manage them. The time covered is from 1980s till date. Pubmed was searched mainly for review articles with the key words haemophilia, RLN, concentrate access, alternative therapy. Cross references from these reviews as well as some of the abstracts from international conferences were read.EXPERT OPINION: Developing a patient's society and a bleeding disorder registry are the two most important actions towards ensuring adequate ...
Source: Expert Review of Hematology - Category: Hematology Authors: Source Type: research