Navigating through the maze of pricing and affordability of branded pharmaceuticals in the midst of the financial crisis: a comparative study among five European recession countries, from a Cyprus perspective

Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice

Michael A. Talias¹  Panagiotis Petrou¹ 

[1] Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

关键词: Affordability;    Financial recession;    Branded pharmaceuticals;    Cyprus;    Italy;    Spain;    Portugal;    Greece;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40545-016-0057-7

学科分类：药理学

来源: BioMed Central

【 摘 要 】

Background

Financial recession mandated the introduction of harsh austerity measures. Health, and particularly pharmaceuticals, constitute a significant part of public expenditure and as such they have been subject to significant budget reduction and stringent policies. As a consequence of these measures, an increasing percentage of patients resort to private sector for acquisition of their prescribed pharmaceuticals, due to exclusion of public health care beneficiary status, reduction of breadth of national formularies, delays in reimbursement and excessive waiting times. Affordability for pharmaceuticals in the private sector is of paramount importance since household disposable income plummets and more people are prone to impoverishment. This is critical for branded products, whose active substance and trademark are under patent protection, since no alternative options exist while their monopoly status imply that their prices are high. The impact on affordability regarding access of patient to necessary pharmaceutical care has not been documented in developed countries.

【 授权许可】

Unknown