Medicinski pregled 2010 Volume 63, Issue 11-12, Pages: 771-774
https://doi.org/10.2298/MPNS1012771K
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Financial justification of investments into special diet for patients with phenylketonuria
Konstantinidis Georgios (Institut za zdravstvenu zaštitu dece i omladine Vojvodine, Novi Sad)
Radovanov Dobrila (Institut za zdravstvenu zaštitu dece i omladine Vojvodine, Novi Sad)
Konstantinidis Nada (Institut za zdravstvenu zaštitu dece i omladine Vojvodine, Novi Sad)
Introduction. Phenylketonuria is a genetic disorder of metabolism of amino
acid phenylalanine, which results in the absence of phenylalanine
hydroxylase, an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of phenylalanine into
tyrosine. It is an autosomal recessive disorder. Screening for
phenylketonuria in Voivodina started in 2003. Screening data are shown in
this paper. Treatment of phenylketonuria is based on a strict, life long, low
protein diet with the controlled phenylalanine intake. Diet must start early,
in the first weeks of life. The aim of the diet is to reduce natural protein
intake and to cover protein needs by special phenylalanine free protein
products. There is a big variety of formulas found available on the market
for treatment of phenylketonuria. All of them are free of phenylalanine and
very expensive. Discussion. Till May 2005 there was no refunding for these
products in our country. According to the decision made by the Provincial
Secretariat for Health, providing all children with protein supplement in
their first year of life started at the Institute for Child and Youth
Healthcare. In September 2007 the Republic Fund for Health Insurance started
to refund protein supplement and low protein products for all children up to
the age of 18 years. Conclusion. Besides all technical and organizational
difficulties associated with this work, this paper also shows how, by good
prevention of phenylketonuria complications, much more money can be saved
than it has been invested, even in countries with low amounts of money
allocated for this purpose (in absolute figures).
Keywords: Phenylketonurias, Diet, Protein-Restricted, Phenylalanine, Financing Construction
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