The Cost-Effectiveness of Mandatory Folic Acid Fortification in Australia

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition Vol. 143; no. 1; pp. 59 - 66
• Main Authors: Rabovskaja, Viktoria, Parkinson, Bonny, Goodall, Stephen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD Elsevier Inc 01.01.2013; American Society for Nutrition
• Subjects: Australia - epidemiology; Biological and medical sciences; Bread - adverse effects; Bread - analysis; Bread - economics; Cost-Benefit Analysis; DALY; Decision Trees; disability-adjusted life-year; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Folic Acid - administration & dosage; Folic Acid - adverse effects; Folic Acid - economics; Food Standards Australia New Zealand; Food, Fortified - adverse effects; Food, Fortified - economics; FSANZ; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Government Programs - economics; Health Promotion - economics; Health Utility Index; HUI; Humans; ICER; Incidence; incremental cost-effectiveness ratio; life-year gained; LYG; Mandatory Programs - economics; neural tube defect; Neural Tube Defects - economics; Neural Tube Defects - epidemiology; Neural Tube Defects - prevention & control; NTD; PBAC; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases - economics; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases - epidemiology; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases - etiology; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases - physiopathology; Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee; Prevalence; probabilistic sensitivity analysis; PSA; QALY; Quality-Adjusted Life Years; quality-adjusted life-year; Severity of Illness Index; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vitamin B 12 Deficiency - economics; Vitamin B 12 Deficiency - epidemiology; Vitamin B 12 Deficiency - physiopathology; Voluntary Programs - economics; willingness to pay; WTP; Australia; Oceania; FSANZ; PBAC; WTP; DALY; ICER; QALY; LYG; HUI; NTD; PSA; Micronutrient; Nutrition; Folic acid

The Australian government recently introduced mandatory folic acid fortification of bread to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs). The economic evaluation of this policy contained a number of limitations. This study aimed to address the limitations and to reconsider the findings. Cost-...