Considering the usually accepted thresholds in oncology, pembrolizumab is a cost-effective alternative for treating patients with advanced melanoma in Portugal.
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has led to disruptive changes worldwide, with different implications across countries. The evolution of citizens' concerns and behaviours over time is a central piece to support public policies. Objective To unveil perceptions and behaviours of the Portuguese population regarding social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for more informed public policies. Methods Online panel survey distributed in three waves between March 13 th and May 6 th 2020. Data collected from a non-representative sample of 7,448 respondents includes socio-demographic characteristics and self-reported measures on levels of concern and behaviours related to COVID-19. We performed descriptive analysis and probit regressions to understand relationships between the different variables. Results Most participants (85%) report being at least very concerned with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation reached a high level of adherence during the state of emergency. Around 36% of the sample anticipated consumption decisions, stockpiling ahead of the state of emergency declaration. Medical appointments suffered severe consequences, being re-rescheduled or cancelled. We find important variation in concerns with the economic impact across activity sectors.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab (Nivo+Ipi) as first line advanced melanoma treatment across 3 European countries. MethOds: A cost-effectiveness model, using a three-state partitioned survival structure was developed. The model utilised the intent-to-treat 28-month progression-free survival data and overall survival data from the CheckMate 067 trial and a network meta-analysis which considers time-varying hazard ratios. The model utilised inputs for Greece, Spain and Portugal. The model considered a 30 year time horizon. Drug acquisition, administration, follow-up, subsequent therapy and adverse event costs were obtained via published unit prices and expert input on resource utilization. Adverse event frequencies were derived from the CheckMate 067 trial and published literature. Utility weights were also estimated from the trial, based on UK tariffs. The key comparators included in the analysis are nivolumab and ipilimumab monotherapy, however an additional comparison with pembrolizumab was considered in sensitivity analysis. Results: The incremental cost per quality adjusted life years (QALY) ratios (ICUR) were consistent across the three countries. Nivo+ Ipi had an ICUR ranging from
Individuals with mental disorders often lead unstable lives in terms of their social and physical living environment. Severe mental illness is associated with economic inactivity (
The need to control the sanitary situation during the COVID-19 pandemic has led governments to implement several restrictions with substantial social and economic impacts. We explored people’s trade-offs in terms of their income, life restrictions, education, and poverty in the society, compared to their willingness to avoid deaths. We applied a web-based discrete choice experiment to elicit preferences of the Portuguese citizens for these attributes and computed the marginal rate of substitution in terms of avoided deaths. We recorded 2,191 responses that faced the possibility of having 250 COVID-19 related deaths per day as the worst possible outcome from the choice levels presented. Estimates suggested that individuals would be willing to sacrifice 30% instead of 10% of their income to avoid approximately 47 deaths per day during the first six months of 2021. For the same period, they would also accept 30% of the students’ population to become educationally impaired, instead of 10%, to avoid approximately 25 deaths; a strict lockdown, instead of mild life restrictions, to avoid approximately 24 deaths; and 45% of the population to be in risk of poverty, instead of 25%, to avoid approximately 101 deaths. Our paper shows that avoiding deaths was strongly preferred to the remaining societal impacts; and that being a female, as well as working on site, led individuals to be more averse to such health hazards. Furthermore, we show how a DCE can be used to assess the societal support to decision-making during times of crisis.
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