E-drug: Re: Liberalisation in the Netherlands - few positive effects (1)
----------------------------------------------------------
Mark Raijmakers, Wemos wrote:
Although drug provision in the Netherlands is relatively not a high
expenditure item on the health budget list, costs rose relatively more
during the last decades.
Mind that annual per capita expenditure on drugs in The Netherlands is
approximately US$ 200.00, if my information is correct. This indicates a
high use.
A new policy instrument of the Dutch government
was since 1994 strongly promoting competition in drug provision and thus
trying to reduce the drug budget. This policy was not successful and has
even >resulted in some minor negative effects, like: transfer-costs of
pharmacies have risen, buying of individual pharmacies by
wholesalers (and thus creating, more monopolised, pharmacy-chains).
I may be too simple minded, but it seems to me that the approach of the
Dutch government was not really serious. Is it an idea to check this
with some INRUD/WHO or other indicators?
Best regards,
Rob Verhage
Procurement Consultant
Ministry of Health
Accra, Ghana
mohup@ghana.com
--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.