This research was designed to help address the evidence gap regarding economic evaluations that could assist decision-makers to allocate additional resources in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Australia’s Indigenous population. The study authors explain that CVD is the leading cause of disease burden in Australia’s Indigenous population and the greatest contributor to the Indigenous ‘health gap’. Five interventions (1 community-based and 4 pharmacological) to prevent CVD in Indigenous Australians were selected for economic evaluation. Pharmacological interventions were evaluated as delivered either via Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services or mainstream general practitioner services. All pharmacological interventions produced more Indigenous health benefit when delivered via Indigenous health services, but cost-effectiveness ratios were higher due to greater health service costs. Cost-effectiveness ratios were also higher in remote than in non-remote regions. The polypill proved to be the most cost-effective intervention, while the community-based intervention produced the most health gain. The study authors advise that policy makers seeking to address health inequities and bridge the health gap must consider both the extent of health gain and cost-effectiveness ratios. As they conclude, “failure to do so may result in redirection of resources away from where they are needed most to address health inequities”.
