GENERIC MEDICINES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM
The health systems are becoming broader and more complex and healthcare expenditure has never been so high, consuming an increased part of the national income, more than 10% of gross domestic product (GDP). In the last decade, medicines spending had a particular growth, having contributed decisivel...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Formifarma, LDA.
2011-12-01
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| Series: | Revista Portuguesa de Farmacoterapia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://revista.farmacoterapia.pt/index.php/rpf/article/view/81 |
| _version_ | 1797733176182833152 |
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| author | Rui Peres Alves Fernando Ramos |
| author_facet | Rui Peres Alves Fernando Ramos |
| author_sort | Rui Peres Alves |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
The health systems are becoming broader and more complex and healthcare expenditure has never been so high, consuming an increased part of the national income, more than 10% of gross domestic product (GDP). In the last decade, medicines spending had a particular growth, having contributed decisively to the rise of total health expenditure.
In order to contain medicines expenditure several policies have been introduced in Portugal. The subsidiary objectives have been the promotion of the usage of generic medicines and the introduction of market mechanisms to encourage prices reductions. But with a low rate of success so far.
Although penetration is still modest, with a market share below 20%, the generic medicines have already generated significant savings in total medicines expenditure, accounted between 2003 and 2009 more than 1.7 billion Euros savings.
Over the next five years the potential growth of the generic medicines market will be considerable, taking the number of products that will lose the exclusive rights to market by the end of their patents during that period. However, to maximize these advantages, Portugal will need to undertake several measures aimed to remove existing restrictions and imperfections of generic medicines market: (i) reduce or eliminate the regulatory pressure on prices (ii) abolish the conditions that favour the practices of patent linkage, (iii) create incentives for doctors to prescribe generic medicines, (iv) implement a system for pharmacy remuneration based on pharmaceutical act fee or regressive margins, (v) create greater differentiation with regard to patients co-payment towards the option of using a more expensive branded medicine instead of a cheaper generic medicine.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:24:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-10c8883cd0a0444fb6516d6997ff739f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1647-354X 2183-7341 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:24:22Z |
| publishDate | 2011-12-01 |
| publisher | Formifarma, LDA. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista Portuguesa de Farmacoterapia |
| spelling | doaj.art-10c8883cd0a0444fb6516d6997ff739f2023-08-29T23:08:02ZengFormifarma, LDA.Revista Portuguesa de Farmacoterapia1647-354X2183-73412011-12-013410.25756/rpf.v3i4.81GENERIC MEDICINES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEMRui Peres AlvesFernando Ramos The health systems are becoming broader and more complex and healthcare expenditure has never been so high, consuming an increased part of the national income, more than 10% of gross domestic product (GDP). In the last decade, medicines spending had a particular growth, having contributed decisively to the rise of total health expenditure. In order to contain medicines expenditure several policies have been introduced in Portugal. The subsidiary objectives have been the promotion of the usage of generic medicines and the introduction of market mechanisms to encourage prices reductions. But with a low rate of success so far. Although penetration is still modest, with a market share below 20%, the generic medicines have already generated significant savings in total medicines expenditure, accounted between 2003 and 2009 more than 1.7 billion Euros savings. Over the next five years the potential growth of the generic medicines market will be considerable, taking the number of products that will lose the exclusive rights to market by the end of their patents during that period. However, to maximize these advantages, Portugal will need to undertake several measures aimed to remove existing restrictions and imperfections of generic medicines market: (i) reduce or eliminate the regulatory pressure on prices (ii) abolish the conditions that favour the practices of patent linkage, (iii) create incentives for doctors to prescribe generic medicines, (iv) implement a system for pharmacy remuneration based on pharmaceutical act fee or regressive margins, (v) create greater differentiation with regard to patients co-payment towards the option of using a more expensive branded medicine instead of a cheaper generic medicine. http://revista.farmacoterapia.pt/index.php/rpf/article/view/81Generic medicinesNHSsustainability |
| spellingShingle | Rui Peres Alves Fernando Ramos GENERIC MEDICINES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM Revista Portuguesa de Farmacoterapia Generic medicines NHS sustainability |
| title | GENERIC MEDICINES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM |
| title_full | GENERIC MEDICINES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM |
| title_fullStr | GENERIC MEDICINES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM |
| title_full_unstemmed | GENERIC MEDICINES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM |
| title_short | GENERIC MEDICINES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM |
| title_sort | generic medicines and the sustainability of the national health system |
| topic | Generic medicines NHS sustainability |
| url | http://revista.farmacoterapia.pt/index.php/rpf/article/view/81 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ruiperesalves genericmedicinesandthesustainabilityofthenationalhealthsystem AT fernandoramos genericmedicinesandthesustainabilityofthenationalhealthsystem |