Retail pharmacy prescription medicines availability, prices, and affordability in Eswatini.
Loading...
Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Background: The low availability of medicines in public health outlets coupled with
unaffordable prices in the private sector can be a major barrier to medicines’ access. Patients in
Eswatini may be forced to buy medicines from the private sector due to the chronic medicines
shortages in Eswatini public health facilities. The extent to which they can afford to do so is
unknown.
Aim: To determine the availability, prices paid by patients and affordability of medicines, in
the retail pharmacies in Eswatini and to compare the results regionally.
Setting: Retail pharmacy sector in the 4 administrative regions of Eswatini.
Methods: Data on availability, prices and affordability to patients for two products namely the
originator brand (OB) and the lowest-priced generic equivalent (LPG) for 50 medicines were
collected using the standardised World Health Organization/ Health Action International
methodology. The data collection was conducted in 32 retail pharmacies in the 4 regions of
Eswatini. Prices for each medicine were compared with South Africa.
Results: The overall mean availability of all medicines in selected retail pharmacy outlets was
(38.5%; SD=20.4%) for OBs and (80.9%; SD=19.0%) for LPGs. The overall median price ratio
(MPR) in the surveyed pharmacies was 18.61 for the OBs and 4.67 for LPGs. Most standard
treatments with LPGs cost less than a day’s wage whilst OB’s cost more than a day’s wages.
The differences between Eswatini and South African prices were statistically significant.
Conclusion: There is a need to develop medicines pricing policies and price monitoring tools
in the whole pharmaceutical chain in Eswatini to measure and monitor availability,
affordability, and accessibility of medicines to the general populace.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.