to estimate the quality and availability of medical care for patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), to assess the impact of the economic burden of these diseases on the healthcare budget of Russia and to systematize the main problems in the organization of medical care and drug supply for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Regional IBD databases (2016-2018), official statistical databases, costs of treatment and results of expert interviews with specialists in IBD were used in the study. The analyzed databases showed 104,668 patients with UC in Russia in 2018 (prevalence rate 71 per 100,000 people) and 66,647 patients with CD (prevalence rate of 45 per 100,000 people). The economic burden including agents for biologic therapy (ABT) for the UC was 39.54 billion rubles a year (495 rubles per capita), and CD - 32.98 billion rubles a year (378 rubles per capita). It requires an additional 9.87 billion rubles annually for UC and 9.20 billion rubles annually for CD patients to provide the complete supply with ABT. The annual burden of IBD is 72.52 billion rubles, which is comparable to the costs of other socially significant diseases, including malignant tumors. It shows the high social and economic value of IBD for the country. The main problems of medical care and drug supply for IBD patients are the mismatch of official statistical data and real IBD prevalence in Russia due to absence of comprehensive register and the insufficient supply with ABT due to limited funding. A federal center for IBD should be founded for better quality of registration, for the precise monitoring and for the active management of personal drug supply.
Keywords: Crohn’s disease; economic burden; inflammatory bowel diseases; medical care organization; organization of the drug supply; ulcerative colitis.