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Access to medicines in the Brazilian Unified Health System's primary health care: assessment of a public policy.

Mariana M BarbosaThais A MoreiraRenata Cristina Rezende Macedo do NascimentoMariana Martins Gonzaga do NascimentoFrancisco de Assis AcurcioBrian B GodmanAugusto Afonso Guerra JuniorJuliana Álvares Teodoro
Published in: Journal of comparative effectiveness research (2021)
In 2008, the Programa Rede Farmácia de Minas (RFM, literally translated: 'Minas Gerais Pharmacy Network' program) was created as a strategy to expand access to medicines. Aim: Measure access to medicines in public pharmacies through comparison between municipalities that joined or not the RFM. Materials & methods: Cross-sectional, evaluative study, gathering information from a representative sample of the municipalities in Minas Gerais between July 2014 and May 2015. The Poisson regression results were obtained by calculating the prevalence ratios. Results: Adequate access to medicines in Minas Gerais was 69.9%, being 75.8% in municipalities with and 69.2% without the RFM. The municipalities with the RFM showed statistically higher percentages in the Availability, Adequacy/Accommodation, and Acceptability dimensions. Conclusion: RFM appears an efficient strategy for promoting access to medicines.
Keyphrases
  • cross sectional
  • healthcare
  • mental health
  • public health
  • risk factors
  • emergency department
  • quality improvement
  • health information
  • adverse drug
  • electronic health record
  • social media
  • network analysis