BackgroundTo evaluate medicine prices, availability and affordability in Brazil, considering the differences across three types of medicines (originator brands, generics and similar medicines) and different types of facilities (private pharmacies, public sector pharmacies and “popular pharmacies”).MethodsData on prices and availability of 50 medicines were collected in 56 pharmacies across six cities in Southern Brazil using the World Health Organization / Health Action International methodology. Median prices obtained were divided by international reference prices to derive the median price ratio (MPR).ResultsIn the private sector, prices were 8.6 MPR for similar medicines, 11.3 MRP for generics and 18.7 MRP for originator brands, respectively. Mean availability was 65%, 74% and 48% for originator brands, generics and similar medicines, respectively. In the public sector, mean availability of similar medicines was 2–7 times higher than that of generics. Mean overall availability in the public sector ranged from 68.8% to 81.7%. In “popular pharmacies”, mean availability was greater than 90% in all cities.ConclusionsAvailability of medicines in the public sector does not meet the challenge of supplying essential medicines to the entire population, as stated in the Brazilian constitution. This has unavoidable repercussions for affordability, particularly amongst the lower socio-economic strata.
The overall availability of the drugs surveyed was higher than the 80% recommended by WHO. However, some treatments were not available, or had limited availability in the public system. Concerning affordability, the number of salary days required to buy these drugs may affect the continuation of drug treatments for chronic diseases.
O artigo descreve o perfil das prescrições de antimicrobianos, suas principais indicações clínicas e aspectos sazonais. Realizou-se um estudo transversal nas unidades de saúde da família do Município de Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, nos meses de julho de 2005 e janeiro de 2006. Foram analisadas todas (n = 2.877) as prescrições médicas, e a prevalência de prescrição de antimicrobianos encontrada nos meses de inverno e verão foi de 30,4% (IC95%: 28,5-32,4) e 21% (IC95%: 19,1-22,9), respectivamente. Os antimicrobianos mais prescritos foram a amoxicilina e a associação de sulfametoxazol/trimetropin. As principais indicações clínicas para sua prescrição foram: infecção das vias aéreas superiores não especificadas (22,5%), amigdalites (20,8%) e infecções do trato urinário (13,3%). Observou-se uma mudança no perfil de prescrição de antimicrobianos para o tratamento das mesmas patologias entre os dois períodos. Os resultados evidenciam a falta de um padrão de prescrição de antimicrobianos na atenção básica à saúde, o que contraria as recomendações da Organização Mundial da Saúde, que sugerem a criação de protocolos de uso de antimicrobianos em todos os níveis de cuidado, como estratégia para a prevenção do uso inadequado dos antimicrobianos disponíveis.
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