Asthma: Drugs

Department of Health written question – answered at on 29 October 2014.

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Photo of Liz Kendall Liz Kendall Shadow Minister (Health) (Care and Older People)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much has been spent on the prescription of asthma drugs in the NHS in each of the last five years.

Photo of George Freeman George Freeman The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health

Information on National Health Service expenditure on drugs for the treatment of asthma in primary and secondary care is in the table.

Drugs for the treatment of osteoporosis have been defined as those included in the following British National Formulary sections:

3.1.1 Adrenoceptor agonists

3.1.2 Antimuscarinic bronchodilators

3.1.3 Theophylline

3.2 Corticosteroids

3.3.1 Cromoglicate and related therapy

3.3.2 Leukotriene receptor antagonists

3.4.2 Allergen immunotherapy (omalizumab only)

Cost of drugs for the treatment of asthma, England1

Drug name

Primary Care (£ millions)

Secondary Care (£ millions)

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Aclidinium Bromide

-

-

-

0.02

1.62

-

-

-

0.00

0.03

Aminophylline

1.25

1.18

1.12

1.08

1.05

0.30

0.29

0.21

0.23

0.22

Beclometasone Dipropionate

84.26

87.72

90.30

97.56

102.39

1.62

1.53

1.41

1.49

1.42

Budesonide

140.35

149.03

158.82

169.14

177.00

1.29

1.14

1.14

1.27

1.41

Budesonide/ Formoterol

-

-

-

-

-

2.75

2.94

2.89

3.10

3.29

Ciclesonide

0.84

0.95

1.03

1.12

1.25

0.01

0.02

0.02

0.02

0.03

Fluticasone

366.24

380.56

387.89

392.95

396.10

1.00

0.93

0.91

1.00

0.99

Fluticasone/ Salmeterol

-

-

-

-

-

11.46

11.56

10.69

10.82

10.48

Formoterol Fumarate

5.18

4.87

4.68

4.85

4.93

0.10

0.08

0.07

0.06

0.06

Glycopyrronium Bromide

-

-

-

0.01

2.30

0.58

0.62

0.70

0.79

1.00

Indacaterol Maleate

-

0.04

0.30

0.92

1.47

-

0.00

0.00

0.02

0.04

Ipratropium Bromide

16.15

15.02

13.74

10.32

8.61

2.74

2.84

2.59

2.65

2.70

Mometasone Furoate

0.36

0.31

0.26

0.23

0.21

0.76

0.71

0.61

0.63

0.67

Montelukast

38.91

43.01

46.96

51.71

31.31

0.98

1.02

1.03

1.16

0.81

Omalizumab

0.00

0.01

0.03

0.15

0.12

5.97

9.22

12.16

14.65

17.86

Salbutamol

83.15

82.64

60.58

60.37

59.95

3.78

3.77

3.36

3.38

3.29

Salmeterol

48.80

45.16

41.87

36.72

34.04

0.87

0.74

0.59

0.53

0.47

Terbutaline Sulphate

8.61

8.20

7.61

7.43

7.18

0.18

0.16

0.14

0.14

0.15

Theophylline

2.18

2.17

2.15

2.22

2.26

0.12

0.11

0.11

0.11

0.11

Tiotropium

113.61

129.98

149.81

169.35

185.24

5.69

6.03

6.22

6.64

6.87

Zafirlukast

0.79

0.71

0.71

0.70

0.69

0.01

0.01

0.01

0.01

0.01

Other drugs2

0.90

0.79

0.66

0.62

0.60

0.04

0.07

0.15

0.26

0.46

Total

911.6

952.3

968.5

1,007.5

1,018.3

40.3

43.8

45.0

49.0

52.4

1 Cost of drugs at NHS list price not taking account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

2 Other drugs include Azelastine/Fluticasone, Bambuterol Hydrochloride, Beclometasone/ Formoterol, Cromoglicic Acid, Fenoterol Hydrobromide, Fenoterol/Ipratropium Bromide, Fluticasone/ Formoterol, Nedocromil Sodium, Orciprenaline Sulfate and Sodium Cromoglicate.

Source:

Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (primary care)

Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index (HPAI) provided by IMS Health (secondary care)

Since some drugs are prescribed to treat more than one condition and as the condition for which a drug is prescribed is not collected, it is not possible to separate the different conditions for which a drug may have been prescribed. The information provided may therefore include costs from the prescribing of these drugs for conditions other than for asthma.

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