居民可承受商业健康保险市场空间与覆盖领域——基于四川数据的案例分析

目的:通过对基本医疗的理论界定确定基本医疗保险和商业医疗保险覆盖范围,通过测算可承受的医疗费用标准,估算四川省可承受的商业保险费用总额方法:居民经济承受能力与医疗负担均衡模型,y₁=a₂+b₁/(x+c₁),y₂=a₂-b₂/(x+c₂),居民商业健康保险费用空间估算模型。结果:基本医疗卫生服务和非基本医疗服务界定可由居民经济承受能力,需求层次和技术的适宜性等属性区分;四川省有63%的人群具有购买商业保险的能力,可能具有的市场空间为1810亿元结论:相对现有百亿级的商业健康保险市场,四川省商业健康保险市场空间巨大,拓展这一市场的策略是做好特需服务领域和高新技术服务领域的保险产品设计。     

Are Essential Medicines in Malaysia Accessible, Affordable and Available?

Objective: To assess the pharmaceutical sector to know whether people have access to essential medicines. Setting: The study was conducted in 20 public health clinics, five public district drug stores and 20 private retail pharmacies selected randomly in five different areas randomly selected (four states and a federal territory). Method: The methodology used was adopted from the World Health Organization study protocol. The degree of attainment of the strategic pharmaceutical objectives of improved access is measured by a list of tested indicators. Access is measured in terms of the availability and affordability of essential medicines, especially to the poor and in the public sector. The first survey in the public health clinics and public district drug stores gathered information about current availability of essential medicines, prevalence of stock-outs and affordability of treatment (except drug stores). The second survey assessed affordability of treatment in public health clinics and private retail pharmacies. Main Outcome Measure Availability, stock-out duration, percent of medicines dispensed, accessibility and affordability of key medicines. Results The average availability of key medicines in the public health clinics for the country was 95.4%. The average stock-out duration of key medicines was 6.5 days. However, average availability of key medicines in the public district drug stores was 89.2%; with an average stock-out duration of 32.4 days. Medicines prescribed were 100% dispensed to the patients. Average affordability for public health clinics was 1.5 weeks salary and for the private pharmacies, 3.7 weeks salary. Conclusions: The present pharmaceutical situation in the context of essential medicines list implementation reflected that the majority of the population in Malaysia had access to affordable essential medicines. If medicines need to be obtained from the private sector, they are hardly affordable. Although the average availability of essential medicines in Malaysia was high being more than 95.0%, in certain areas in Sabah availability was less than 80.0% and still a problem.     

The rise of biosimilars: potential benefits and drawbacks in rheumatoid arthritis

Although biologic agents are effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, the high price of drugs and restricted health care budgets have restricted easy access to biologics. Eventually, the use of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs might be inversely associated with disease activity in countries with low gross domestic product. The EMA approved an infliximab biosimilar for the first time in September 2013. The first approval of a biosimilar monoclonal antibody by a major regulatory authority provided a global standard for subsequent biosimilars and for biopharmaceutical companies developing biosimilars. Biosimilars with a highly similar quality and efficacy profile at an acceptable lower cost would significantly increase affordability of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Here, we will review the current status of first biosimilar antibody agent and the potential discussion points raised against biosimilars. In addition, the importance of awareness on biosimilars for stakeholders is discussed.     

对上海青浦区基本药物目录中抗高血压药物可负担性的实证研究

目的 评估基本药物制度下上海青浦区口服抗高血压药物的可负担性,为促进社区慢性病基本药物价格合理性提供实证依据。方法 采用WHO/HAI标准化法和贫化法对该地区口服抗高血压药物的可负担性进行评价。结果 用WHO/HAI标准化法评价结果显示,医疗保险患者对原研药和仿制药的可负担性都较好,而自费患者对原研药的可负担性较差。贫化法结果显示,使用同一通用名的5种原研药和仿制药的致贫人口数量差距较小。厄贝沙坦原研药的可负担性高于仿制药。结论 医疗保险对提高基本药物可负担性作用明显,同时要对一些具有明确循证学证据和使用人群广泛的药物给予合理的定价,以提高治疗高血压药物的可负担性。     

Economical impact of plasma fractionation project in Iran on affordability of plasma-derived medicines

In Iran all transfusion services are concentrated under authority of one public and centralized transfusion organization which has created the opportunity of using plasma produced in its blood centers for fractionation. In 2008 voluntary and non remunerated Iranian donors donated 1.8 million units of blood. This indicates a 25/1000 donation index. After responding to the needs for fresh plasma and cryoprecipitate each year about 150000 L of recovered plasma are reserved for fractionation. In an attempt to improve both blood safety profile and availability and affordability of plasma derived medicines, Iran's national transfusion service has entered into a contract fractionation agreement for surplus of plasma produced from donated blood by voluntary non remunerated donors. In order to ensure safety of product produced, Iran has chosen to collaborate with international fractionators based in highly regulated countries. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of contract plasma fractionation on the affordability of the plasma derived medicines in Iran. During 2006–2008, Iran's contract fractionation project was able to produce 46%, 18% and 6% of IVIG, Albumin and FVIII consumed in Iran's market, respectively. In contrary to IVIG and Albumin, due to fairly high consumption of FVIII in Iran, the role of fractionation project in meeting the needs to FVIII was not substantial. However, Iran's experience has shown that contract plasma fractionation, through direct and indirect effects on price of plasma derived medicines, could substantially improve availability and affordability of such products in national health care system.     

The equity impacts of community financing activities in three African countries

Although the Bamako Initiative from its very beginning was caught up in wider debates about the potential equity impact of any form of user financing, to date there has been little empirical investigation of this impact. This three-country study, undertaken in Benin, Kenya and Zambia in 1994/95, was initiated to add to the body of relevant evidence. It sought to understand not only what had been the equity impacts of community financing activities in these countries but also how they had been brought about. As a result, it investigated equity primarily through consideration of the design of these financing activities and through the perceptions of different actors, within a limited number of purposively selected geographical areas in each country, about their strengths and weaknesses. Additional data on utilization were either collected during the course of the study (Kenya) or drawn from other available studies (Benin and Zambia). Key issues considered in the studies' assessment of equity were the extent to which both relative and absolute affordability gains were achieved, as well as as an influence over both the distributional and procedural justice of the financing activities, the pattern of decision-making. Across countries there was evidence of relative affordability gains in Benin and Kenya, but Kenyan gains were not sustained over time and no such gains were identified in Zambia. In addition, no country had given attention either to the issue of absolute affordability, through the implementation of effective exemption mechanisms to protect the poorest from the burden of payment, or to the establishment of community decision-making bodies that effectively represented the interests of all groups including the poorest. Overall, therefore, although the Benin Bamako Initiative programme might be judged as successful in terms of what appear to be its own equity objectives, the other two countries' schemes had clear equity problems even in these terms. The experience across countries also highlights the unresolved question of whether equity is concerned with the greatest good for the greatest number or with promoting the interests of the most disadvantaged.     

Equity and efficiency in HIV‐treatment in South Africa: the contribution of mathematical programming to priority setting

The HIV‐epidemic is one of the greatest public health crises to face South Africa. A health care response to the treatment needs of HIV‐positive people is a prime example of the desirability of an economic, rational approach to resource allocation in the face of scarcity. Despite this, almost no input based on economic analysis is currently used in national strategic planning. While cost‐utility analysis is theoretically able to establish technical efficiency, in practice this is accomplished by comparing an intervention's ICER to a threshold level representing society's maximum willingness to pay to avoid death and improve health‐related quality of life. Such an approach has been criticised for a number of reasons, including that it is inconsistent with a fixed budget for health care and that equity is not taken into account. It is also impractical if no national policy on the threshold exists. As an alternative, this paper proposes a mathematical programming approach that is capable of highlighting technical efficiency, equity, the equity/efficiency trade‐off and the affordability of alternative HIV‐treatment interventions. Government could use this information to plan an HIV‐treatment strategy that best meets equity and efficiency objectives within budget constraints. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

江苏省基本药物可负担性实证研究

本文选取5种常见病治疗所需的23种药品,在调查其价格水平的基础之上,参考世界卫生组织(WHO)和国际健康行动机构(HAI)的标准药品价格调查方法,分析这23种药品费用的可负担性.结果得出2010年江苏省基本药物等效仿制药的可负担性水平较好,但原研药可负担性水平依旧较差,建议采取完善药品招标机制、规范药品合理使用和建立差异化的药品价格补偿机制等措施,进一步提高江苏省基本药物的可负担性.