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Medicines in health systems: advancing access, availability and appropriate use

The fourth Flagship Report of the Alliance “Medicines in Health systems: advancing access, availability and appropriate use” was developed in 2013/2014. The innovation of the report is to examine medicines access, affordability and use from a health systems perspective, creating a deeper understanding of how interventions in the medicines sector influence the rest of the system and vice versa.

The objective of this thematic issue in Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice is to publish the series of peer-reviewed papers which formed the background material of the existing report. This theme issue will give visibility to the rich material that was used to elaborate the Flagship Report. It will also highlight the diverse country experiences that have contributed to a better understanding of the complex environment of medicines in health systems of LMICs.

Collection published: 25 September 2015

  1. Hypertension is the most prevalent cardiovascular disease in Zimbabwe. The prevalence of Hypertension in the country is above 30% regardless of the cut off used. Currently, majority of patients in Zimbabwe see...

    Authors: Victor Basopo and Paschal N. Mujasi
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2017 10:37
  2. Evaluating outcomes after tuberculosis (TB) treatment can help identify the primary reasons for treatment success or failure. However, Yemen has a treatment success rate that remains below the World Health Org...

    Authors: Ammar Ali Saleh Jaber, Amer Hayat Khan and Syed Azhar Syed Sulaiman
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2017 10:36
  3. Many middle-income countries are scaling up health insurance schemes to provide financial protection and access to affordable medicines to poor and uninsured populations. Although there is a wealth of evidence...

    Authors: Warren A. Kaplan, Paul G. Ashigbie, Mohamad I. Brooks and Veronika J. Wirtz
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2017 10:17
  4. The inappropriate use of antimicrobials is a problem worldwide. To target future interventions, a thorough understanding of the reasons behind this current behaviour is needed. Within the EU, the culture of an...

    Authors: Susanne Kaae, Admir Malaj and Iris Hoxha
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2017 10:13
  5. The rising demand for chronic disease treatment and the barriers to accessing these medicines have led to the development of novel models for distributing medicines in South Africa’s public sector, including d...

    Authors: Bvudzai Priscilla Magadzire, Bruno Marchal and Kim Ward
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2016 9:28
  6. The proposed Pharmacy Bill of Malaysia which served to consolidate and harmonise the existing pharmacy legislation which has been used for more than 60 years. This new Pharmacy Bill contains 17 parts and a tot...

    Authors: Kah Seng Lee, Yen Wei Lim and Long Chiau Ming
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2016 9:25
  7. This editorial introduces a series of case studies that together highlight the use of health market interventions to improve access to medicines in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). It underscores the a...

    Authors: Zubin Shroff, Maryam Bigdeli, Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar, Anita Wagner, Abdul Ghaffar and David H Peters
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2016 9:19
  8. Ghana established its National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2003 with the goal of ensuring more equitable financing of health care to improve access to health services. This qualitative study examines the...

    Authors: Paul G. Ashigbie, Devine Azameti and Veronika J. Wirtz
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2016 9:6
  9. The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases puts a high burden on the health care systems of Low and Middle Income Countries which are often not adapted to provide the care needed. Peer support programmes ar...

    Authors: Josefien van Olmen, Natalie Eggermont, Maurits van Pelt, Heang Hen, Jeroen de Man, François Schellevis, David H. Peters and Maryam Bigdeli
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2016 9:1
  10. Retail drug sellers are a major source of health care and medicines in many countries. In Tanzania, drug shops are widely used, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Previously, the shops were allowed t...

    Authors: Edmund Rutta, Jafary Liana, Martha Embrey, Keith Johnson, Suleiman Kimatta, Richard Valimba, Rachel Lieber, Elizabeth Shekalaghe and Hiiti Sillo
    Citation: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2015 8:23

    The Erratum to this article has been published in Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice 2015 8:29