Hjemtagning af dialysebehandling til grønlandske patienter med kronisk nyresvigt

Background: Until recently, there have not been any facilities for the treatment of chronic renalfailure with dialyses in Greenland. Patients in haemodialysis had to move to Copenhagen for treatment at Rigshospitalet. Furthermore, patients in peritoneal dialysis were seen at Rigshospitalet for check up visits regularly. Thus, patients either had to move to Denmark on a permanent basis for treatment, or regularly travel to Denmark for control visits. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the economic consequences of establishing dialysis treatment for patients with chronic renal failure at Dronning Ingrid Hospital in Nuuk, Greenland. Methods: Based on a suggestion from a working group on how to organise dialysis facilities in Nuuk, the expected costs of establishing and managing chronic renal failure were estimated and compared to those if disease management continued as usual. Furthermore, in a survey to 500 persons aged 18 years or older living in Greenland, the societal value of establishing and offering treatment for chronic renal failure in Nuuk were examined with a discrete choice experiment. Results: The additional costs of establishing and running dialysis treatment in Greenland compared with usual care were estimated to four million Danish kroners per year. From 206 respondents in the survey, it was estimated that the value of dialysis facilities in Nuuk was 5.7 million Danish kroners per year. Conclusion: The results from this study suggest that the societal benefits of establishing and running dialysis facilities may exceed the additional costs of such an alternative