Highlights
- •The low level of accessibility of psychotropic medicine in developing countries, especially in low-income countries, seriously hinders patients’ long-term access to psychotropic medicine.
- •In developing countries, even though the accessibility of generic medicine is higher than that of branded medicine, the procurement and patient prices of generic medicines remain much higher than international reference prices, and the availability and affordability of generic medicine remain at the nonideal level.
- •To further improve accessibility of psychotropic medicine, developing countries, especially low-income countries, can encourage patients to substitute generic medicine for branded medicines while adopting efficient procurement mechanisms.
Abstract
Objectives
The objective of this study was to analyze the accessibility of psychotropic medicine
in developing countries based on the availability, price, and affordability indicators
to create international evidence to guide the development of policies on the accessibility
of medicines.
Methods
This study included 5 types of psychotropic medicines listed in the 22nd edition of
the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines published by the World
Health Organization in 2021. Derived from 84 surveys in 59 countries, this study summarizes
the availability, price, and affordability of originator branded drugs (OBs) and lowest-price
generic drugs (LPGs) in the public and private sectors and compares them based on
income levels in different countries.
Results
The average availability of psychotropic medicine was 45% in low- and lower-middle-income
countries (LLMICs) compared with 49% in high- and upper-middle-income countries (HUMICs)
whereas the availability of LPGs was higher than that of OBs in all country groups.
The average patient price for OBs and LPGs was 94.0 and 23.2, respectively, and the
overall patient price of psychotropic medicine in LLMICs was higher than that in HUMICs.
The affordability of psychotropic medicine in LLMICs was lower than that in HUMICs.
Conclusions
Psychotropic medicines in lower-middle-income countries have lower availability, a
higher average patient price, and lower average affordability than in HUMICs, which
requires lower-middle-income countries to take effective and various measures to improve
the accessibility of psychotropic medicine.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 25, 2022
Accepted:
November 16,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc.
