BACKGROUND Increasing attention is being paid to the affordability of medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs) where medicines are often highly priced in relation to income levels. The impoverishing effect of medicine purchases can be estimated by determining pre- and postpayment incomes, which are then compared to a poverty line. Here we estimate the impoverishing effects ...

Millions of people, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, lack access to effective pharmaceuticals, often because they are unaffordable. The 2001 Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement and Public Health. The declaration recognized the implications of inte...

Reed F. Beall, MA, is a PhD candidate in the Institute of Population Health at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario. Jason W. Nickerson, RRT, PhD, is a Clinical Investigator at the Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario. Amir Attaran, DPhil, LLB, is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa...

UNLABELLED Managing medical complications in pregnancy is a challenge to clinicians. OBJECTIVES This study profiled some disease and prescription patterns for pregnant women attending antenatal clinics (ANCs) in Nigeria. A risk classification of the medicines was also determined. METHODS Medical case files of 1,200 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics of 3 health facilities in Benin C...

Medicines are weapons used to fight ailments and diseases. More than one medicine is often used for treatment of either single ailment or multiple co-morbid conditions. Most of the modern medicines are potent chemicals having specific and characteristic physical, chemical, pharmacological and therapeutic properties. These properties vary from drug to drug. The dose, route and the regimen of a d...

Indian pharmaceutical industry so far has reformed globally as a powerhouse for production of drugs after implementation of Indian patent act (IPA) in 1970. After implementation of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) act on March 23, 2005, India’s weak process patent system has been replaced by a strict product patent system resulting in a big question mark on the affo...

BACKGROUND Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and faces numerous challenges, including inadequate medication access for its residents. The objective of this study was to determine the availability, prices, and affordability of essential medicines in Haiti and compare these findings to other countries. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional nationwide survey in 2011 of avai...

Scientific journals are most often used to disseminate the end products of research, but also have an important role as instruments of change. One year after the launch of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, the focus of articles published has been on pharmaceutical health systems research, including contemporary issues related to medicines management, socio-behavioral aspects of...

In 1997 and 1998 the Mexican government encouraged the introduction of generic drugs into Mexico, Latin America’s biggest and fastest-growing pharmaceutical market. In contrast to the situation in Brazil, where anti-retrovirals and HIV/AIDS treatment have been the centerpiece of a powerful stateled generics “revolution,” in Mexico the move to cheaper, copied medicines has made its strongest mar...