The cost of managing genital warts in the UK

The national cost of managing genital warts (GWs) in the UK has not been fully estimated, yet is required to inform decisions on vaccination against human papillomavirus. This study estimated the 2010 UK costs based on secondary genitourinary (GU) medicine clinic data from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and primary care data from the Health Improvement Network database. Extrapolating data to 2010 resulted in 173,077 GU medicine clinic and 16,782 primary care GW episodes. Using treatment patterns obtained from key opinion leaders and tariffs from National Health Service Payment by Results (NHS PbR), the national costs were estimated at £52.4 million: £276 per treated GW episode.