# \[e-drug\] Esssential Drugs Monitor 33 Special Pricing Supplement **URL:** \ **Category:** e-drug\ **Created:** [May 29, 2004, 9:10am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-esssential-drugs-monitor-33-special-pricing-supplement/19727 "2004-05-29T09:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![laingr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@laingr](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/laingr)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 9:10am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-esssential-drugs-monitor-33-special-pricing-supplement/19727/1 "2004-05-29T09:10:00Z")
E-DRUG: Esssential Drugs Monitor 33 Special Pricing Supplement -------------------------------------------------------------- To E-druggers The latest edition of the Essential Drugs Monitor (33) contains a special supplement about the WHO/HAI medicines pricing project. The individual articles are downloadable in small files Special Supplement on Medicine Prices. Andrew Creese sets the scene, explaining some of the realities and why there is such a need to "shed light" on medicine prices. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_13\_MedPrices\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_13_MedPrices_e.pdf) Kirsten Myhr explains the development and content of the new WHO/HAI pricing methodology and the accompanying manual Medicine Prices - a new approach to measurement. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_13-14\_Measuring\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_13-14_Measuring_e.pdf) What results does a pricing survey offer investigators at country level? Jeanne Madden gives a brief overview of the field survey process, explains the format of the Excel workbook for data entry, and discusses how to summarise results for many medicines within a sector and compare summary results in different sectors. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_15-16\_WHOHAI\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_15-16_WHOHAI_e.pdf) Anita Kotwani and Jeanne Madden provide details of the survey undertaken in Rajasthan, India, which among other things showed the strength of the generics market in India. In both the private and NGO sectors, consumers are much more likely to find generic products than they are the originator brand of these essential medicines. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_17\_Availability\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_17_Availability_e.pdf) Jeanne Madden, Kumariah Balasubramaniam & Isaac Kibwage explain how, by interviewing experts in local pharmacy systems and reviewing government policies, survey investigators try to separate the component parts of prices to the consumer. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_18\_Components\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_18_Components_e.pdf) Zaheer-Ud-Din-Baber and M. Izham M. Ibrahim describe a study carried out in three Malaysian towns which investigated consumer attitudes on the affordability of medicines and compared drug prices at different retail pharmacies with the international reference price. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_18-19\_Affordability\_e](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_18-19_Affordability_e). pdf Jeanne Madden's comparison of pilot survey results from different countries shows some quite dramatic results. In Peru, for example, originator brand drugs typically sell at more than 61 times the international reference price. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_19-20\_Comparing\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_19-20_Comparing_e.pdf) The hidden costs of essential medicines are revealed by Libby Levison and Richard Laing as they discuss the effects of add-ons such as transportation and storage charges, import tariffs and taxes, and wholesale and retail mark-ups in nine countries. The authors focus on hidden costs which are under government influence and in particular those incurred in the procurement process. The data show that hidden costs can almost double the price of essential medicines between consumer and patient. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_20-21\_Hidden\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_20-21_Hidden_e.pdf) Margaret Ewen runs through the new WHO/HAI medicine price database of results from those who have done pricing surveys using the new methodology. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_22\_MedPriceData\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_22_MedPriceData_e.pdf) Margaret Ewen looks at the mix of policies that are needed to make medicines affordable and discusses the future of the WHO/HAI pricing project. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_23\_DataPolicies\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_23_DataPolicies_e.pdf) A report on the first regional training workshop on medicine prices, held in Cairo in October 2003, which examined the new pricing methodology and looked at the viability of undertaking surveys in a number of countries in the region. [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33\_24\_Workshop\_e.pdf](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/monitor/33/EDM33_24_Workshop_e.pdf) For any E-Druggers who have not seen the manual this is available on request or can be downloaded from [http://www.who.int/medicines/library/prices.shtml](http://www.who.int/medicines/library/prices.shtml) We hope to carry a page of recent results from pricing surveys that have been conducted in each Monitor in the future. Although there has been a great deal of effort undertaken to do these surveys we have not had much discussion about the implications of these surveys. What do E-Druggers think about the price variations being discovered? Richard Laing (Medical Officer) Policy, Access and Rational Use, Essential Drugs and Medicines Policy, World Health Organization CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland Tel 41 22 791 4533 Fax 41 22791 4167 E-mail laingr@who.int -- To send a message to E-Drug, write to: e-drug@healthnet.org To subscribe or unsubscribe, write to: majordomo@healthnet.org in the body of the message type: subscribe e-drug OR unsubscribe e-drug To contact a person, send a message to: e-drug-help@healthnet.org Information and archives: [http://www.essentialdrugs.org/edrug](http://www.essentialdrugs.org/edrug)