Publication:

Economic evaluation of the program of early detection of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is an important public health problem which fulfills the characteristics of the World Health Organization for population-based screening. The Health Provider System (Servicio Navarro de Salud) has started to implement this screening through a Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT). The overview of the literature concludes that this type of test is cost-effective under the threshold of 30,000 €/QALY for efficiency and so is the cost-utility analysis. In the case of Navarra, the economic analysis has also proved that the FOBT is cost-effective. This screening program also provides health benefits and a reduction in the incidence and mortality rate of colorectal cancer which has become increasingly important as the mortality rate has risen