Innovation in European healthcare – what can Sweden learn? - LIF

The UK ranks in the lower third of OECD countries
in terms of drug usage
A recent report (201) “Extent and causes of international variations in drug usage” assessed the
uptake of new medicines in a number of industrialised countries:
• France, Spain, the USA and Denmark all have generally high levels new of usage.
• Overall, the UK ranks eighth out of the 14 countries included in the study, when the usage
ranking observed in each disease area or drug category is taken into account.
• It is notable that some categories of drug which have received a strong NICEendorsement
are still used at significantly lower levels than in other countries (for
example, for hepatitis C treatments or some cancer drugs). Equally, drugs that receive
positive guidance may also enjoy high levels of clinical support, which will also be an
important factor in encouraging higher usage.
• When NICE produces guidance recommending that a medicine should not be
routinely used in the NHS, uptake in the UK tends to be low and will mainly be restricted
to patients in the private sector. This can be seen in the relatively low use of some newer
cancer drugs such as Sorafenib, which is used to treat advanced kidney and liver cancers
(ranking of 13th, 23% of the all-country average).
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