Availability, cost and affordability of essential medicines for chronic respiratory diseases in low-income and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study
Marie Stolbrink, Obianuju B Ozoh, David M G Halpin, Rebecca Nightingale, Jamilah Meghji, Catherine Plum, Brian William Allwood, Shamanthi Jayasooriya, Kevin Mortimer
{"title":"Availability, cost and affordability of essential medicines for chronic respiratory diseases in low-income and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study","authors":"Marie Stolbrink, Obianuju B Ozoh, David M G Halpin, Rebecca Nightingale, Jamilah Meghji, Catherine Plum, Brian William Allwood, Shamanthi Jayasooriya, Kevin Mortimer","doi":"10.1136/thorax-2023-221349","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Contemporary data on the availability, cost and affordability of essential medicines for chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are missing, despite most people with CRDs living in LMICs. Cross-sectional data for seven CRD medicines in pharmacies, healthcare facilities and central medicine stores were collected from 60 LMICs in 2022–2023. Medicines for symptomatic relief were widely available and affordable, while preventative treatments varied widely in cost, were less available and largely unaffordable. There is an urgent need to address these issues if the Sustainable Development Goal 3 is to be achieved for people with asthma by 2030.","PeriodicalId":23284,"journal":{"name":"Thorax","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":9.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Thorax","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1136/thorax-2023-221349","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"RESPIRATORY SYSTEM","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Contemporary data on the availability, cost and affordability of essential medicines for chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) are missing, despite most people with CRDs living in LMICs. Cross-sectional data for seven CRD medicines in pharmacies, healthcare facilities and central medicine stores were collected from 60 LMICs in 2022–2023. Medicines for symptomatic relief were widely available and affordable, while preventative treatments varied widely in cost, were less available and largely unaffordable. There is an urgent need to address these issues if the Sustainable Development Goal 3 is to be achieved for people with asthma by 2030.
期刊介绍:
Thorax stands as one of the premier respiratory medicine journals globally, featuring clinical and experimental research articles spanning respiratory medicine, pediatrics, immunology, pharmacology, pathology, and surgery. The journal's mission is to publish noteworthy advancements in scientific understanding that are poised to influence clinical practice significantly. This encompasses articles delving into basic and translational mechanisms applicable to clinical material, covering areas such as cell and molecular biology, genetics, epidemiology, and immunology.