Evaluation of Availability, Prices, and Affordability of Selected Essential Medicines in Balochistan, Pakistan

International Journal of Public Health

Aqeel Nasim¹  Abdul Kareem¹  Gulalai Rehman¹  Habib Ullah¹  Noman Ul Haq²  Murad Bibi²  Nizam Baloch² 

[1] Balochistan Institute of Nephrology Urology Quetta BINUQ, Quetta, Pakistan;Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan;

关键词: affordability;    WHO;    price;    availability;    essential medicine;    Pakistan;   

DOI  :  10.3389/ijph.2022.1604375

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the availability, prices, and affordability of selected essential medicines in Balochistan, Pakistan.Methods: Cross-sectional research was conducted in several cities of Balochistan, Pakistan, using the World Health Organization/Health Action International methodology to assess the availability and cost of 50 originator brand (OB) and lowest priced generic (LPG) drugs. The medicine costs were compared to international reference prices (IRPs) to calculate the median price ratio. The daily wage of the lowest paid unskilled government employee was used to determine affordability.Results: The mean availability was low for OBs (9.8%) and fairly high (49.4%) for LPGs. The OBs and LPGs’ mean availability in the private sector were fairly high, 51.8% and 42.6%, respectively. It was surprising to see that Balochistan’s public sector has only 24.3% of the National Essential Medicine List when the medicines on this list are supposed to be adequately available.Conclusion: The standard treatment cost with OBs is steep, exceeding the minimum daily wage. Treatment with LPG medications seems affordable. Furthermore, essential LPG medicines are economical when used solely for medication therapy.

【 授权许可】

Unknown