Cost-effectiveness of tobacco control policies in Vietnam: the case of personal smoking cessation support

Aims To examine the cost‐effectiveness of personal smoking cessation support in Vietnam. Design, setting and participants We followed‐up the population aged 15 years and over in 2006 to model the costs and health gains associated with five interventions: physician brief advice; nicotine replacement therapy (patch and gum); bupropion; and varenicline. Threshold analysis was undertaken to determine the price levels of pharmaceuticals for the interventions to be cost‐effective. A multi‐state life table model was constructed such that the interventions affect the smoking cessation behaviour of the age cohorts, and the resulting smoking prevalence defines their health outcomes. A health‐care perspective was employed. Measurements Cost‐effectiveness is measured in 2006 Vietnamese Dong (VND) per disability‐adjusted life year (DALY) averted. We adopted the World Health Organization thresholds of being ‘cost‐effective’ if less than three times gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (VND 34 600 000) and ‘very cost‐effective’ if less than GDP per capita (VND 11 500 000). Findings The cost‐effectiveness result of physician brief advice was VND 1 742 000 per DALY averted (international dollars 543), which was ‘very cost‐effective’. Varenicline dominated bupropion and nicotine‐replacement therapies, although it did not fall within the range of being ‘cost‐effective’ under different scenarios. The threshold analysis revealed that prices of pharmaceuticals must be substantially lower than the levels from other countries if pharmacological therapies are to be cost‐effective in Vietnam. Conclusions Physician brief advice is a cost‐effective intervention and should be included in the priority list of tobacco control policy in Vietnam. Pharmacological therapies are not cost‐effective, and so they are not recommended in Vietnam at this time unless pharmaceuticals could be produced locally at substantially lower costs in the future.