Strategies to improve the availability of medicines in primary health care in Brazil: findings and implications

Aim: Access to essential medicines is a key component of managing patients in ambulatory care. In 2008, the State Minas Gerais, Brazil, created Pharmacy Network (Rede Farmácia de [RFM]) program improve access medicines, increasing availability and restructuring infrastructures. The aim was assess current situation, comparing municipalities with without RFM. Materials & methods: Descriptive survey study, data collected from 2014 July May 2015. Availability verified by stock levels. Results: drug index 61.0%, higher Most physicians considered pharmaceutical services as good/very good. main reasons for shortage were ‘financial transference problems’, ‘insufficient financial resources’ ‘budget’. Conclusion: Strategies, such RFM can promote improvements medicine availability.