A cost-benefit analysis of a National Hypertension Treatment Program in Bangladesh

Introduction Hypertension is one of the most common, yet manageable, risks for life-threatening events like stroke and myocardial infarction in the world. Bangladesh adults experience high rates of hypertension, with one in three women and one in five men meeting the condition's clinical definition. In the midst of an epidemiological transition, Bangladesh has the opportunity to slow the growth of hypertension prevalence through increased coverage of anti-hypertensive drugs for high-risk patients. Methods Using economic cost-benefit analysis and a societal perspective, we model the return on investment of providing blood-pressure lowering drugs to 60% of hypertensive adults by 2021 and 2030. We stratify the projections on both gender and income quintile. Results If the government of Bangladesh is proactive about hypertension management now, they could see a 12.7: 1 annual return on investment by 2021 and an 8.6: 1 annual return on investment by 2030. The return on investment is higher for providing medication for women than for men in both time horizons. Conclusion: Bangladesh has a unique opportunity to address hypertension now in order to prevent thousands of premature deaths and to accrue substantial net economic benefits within 6 years.