Sweden has experienced a national value-based pricing (VBP) system for innovative outpatient drugs operated by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Board - LFN (now called the Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits agency - TLV) since 2002. VBP has the character of a monopoly system, leading to reimbursement...

In Germany, the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) makes recommendations for ceiling prices of drugs based on an evaluation of the relationship between costs and effectiveness. To set ceiling prices, IQWiG uses the following decision rule: the incremental...

Background: Evidence about how people value health gains for different age groups is controversial and incomplete, despite the significance of this issue for priority setting in health policy. Objective: The aim of this study was to collect and analyse nationally representative data in the US...

Background: The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (FDAMA) of 1997, Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) of 2002 and Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2007 provide an extended period of 6 months of marketing exclusivity (i.e. patent extension) to prescription drug...

Introduction: Despite recent concerns over the effectiveness and safety of atypical antipsychotics compared with first-generation antipsychotics, prescribing of atypical antipsychotics continues to increase. The use of generic atypical antipsychotics is one way to address cost concerns,...

Background: Previous research to develop a new generic paediatric health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) measure generated 11 dimensions of HR-QOL, covering physical, emotional and social functioning. These dimensions and their response scales were developed from interviews with children. Some...

Background: Assessments of vaccination programmes should account for several important factors, including efficacy, safety and costs of preventing and treating the disease. Because patients with invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) are managed primarily in an inpatient setting, hospital costs...

Introduction: Streptococcus pneumoniae (Sp.) is a leading cause of paediatric bacterial meningitis, pneumonia and acute otitis media, as is non-typable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) for acute otitis media. In 2008, a 7-valent conjugated pneumococcal vaccine (PCV7) was included in the New Zealand...

Early childhood intervention programmes have emerged in recent years with the aim of fostering the cognitive and social-emotional functioning and physical health of preschool children and enhancing their emerging competencies. This article presents a structured critical appraisal of economic...