ABSTRACT
Objectives:To evaluate essential medicines accessibility from the availability, drug price level and affordability perspective in Beijing. Methods:Data was collected from a sample of a Beijing social security database on diabetes in 2013 and a field research on 4 primary healthcare institutions. The essential medicine equipping rate, medium price ratio ( MPR) and poverty-inducing effect were selected as accessibility indicators. Results:Among 21 sample drugs, the nitrendipine, magnesium sulfate, sodium nitroprusside, prazosin, phentolamine and glyburide e-quipping rates are less than 15%. The 9 sample drugs MPR varied from 1. 3 to 27. 4. The hypertension, hyper-lipemia and diabete poverty-inducing rate varied from 0. 44% to 0. 70% in urban areas, and varied from 1. 17% to 1. 88% in rural areas. Conclusion:Some essential medicines in Beijing are equipped with a very low rate, but have a high price level, and the poverty-inducing population is large. We recommend strengthening the monitoring of es-sential medicines accessibility and introducing appropriate supporting policies.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:To provide theoretic support for medicine affordability evaluation in China by studying medicine af-fordability evaluation methods. METHODS:Through introducing the concept and evaluation methods of affordability,the evalua-tion steps of“catastrophic expenditure”and“medicine affordability”in medicine affordability evaluation methods were interpreted systematically. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS:The catastrophic expenditure and impoverishing effect methods can measure med-icine affordability,but they both have limitations. Catastrophic expenditure evaluation method cannot measure the consequences of a catastrophic expenditure to the family,and ignore the reduction of family income after the occurrence of diseases. Impoverishing effect evaluation method cannot pay attention to originally poor population. These two evaluation methods complement each other, and can more objectively reflect the ability of patients bearing medical expenses,which can provide scientific references for poli-cies of enhancing medicine pricing and reimbursement system.