ECONOMIC RESEARCH: COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINES CAN IMPROVE HEALTH, REDUCE COSTS
MEDIA RELEASE
17 September 2015
New Zealand’s health policy makers should take heed of Australian research findings that show some complementary medicines can contribute to improved health and reduced consumer healthcare costs, says Alison Quesnel, Executive Director of Natural Products NZ – an industry umbrella group that represents New Zealand’s natural products, functional foods, complementary medicines, cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals industries.
READ MORE: Comp medicine research findings_Sept 2015
About the Frost & Sullivan study
The Frost & Sullivan researchers conducted a review of peer-reviewed scientific literature, focusing on studies that quantified the effect of certain complementary medicines on the occurrence of disease-related events among targeted populations. From this review, an overall change in the relative risk of a given disease-related event resulting from the use of each of the complementary regimens was derived. Then, these relative risk reduction statistics were used as an input into a cost-benefit scenario analysis to determine the potential change in hospital utilisation costs and wage income gains that could be realised if people in a specified high-risk population were to use each of the complementary medicine regimens.
For a summary of the report click here.
For the full report click here.
