Access to medication in Mexico: financing and equity

Abstract

Objetive: The objective of this paper is to analyze the equity on the financing and access to medication in Mexico, in a context of growth in the market of t generic drugs. It also shows the level of prices and costs of diabetes treatment. Materials and Methods:This study is based on the national survey about the income and expense of households from 1998 and 2010. The Heckman model was used. This type of model has two stages: the first estimates the probability that the household make an expense on medications, while the second stage uses an Engel Curve model to explain the budgetary allocation of drug spending. Results:The poorest households without social security have an expense in medication relatively higher than the rest of the population. The cost of diabetes treatment with drugs without patent is too high. According to the results if the drug spending of a household income increases by 100% it is reduced by 11.79% in 1998, while in 2010 it drops in 11.59%. The estimation of this demand equation according to the theory of the consumer indicates that the introduction of generic drugs has brought a wealth effect since 2010 households consume more medication, just as predicted. Conclusion:The benefits of access to medicines may not be available on an equitable way. The poor households may not have the opportunity to achieve good health when it is affected by a disease which requires expensive medications or has a lifetime treatment and a great part of the household income is destined to it which makes them become poorer; this has a negative impact on social justice.

Medicines policy, access and use in Mexico: a systematic literature review 2000–2022

“…Researchers who appeared as first author on the greatest number of included articles were the following: Wirtz, 12,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Moye-Holz, [27][28][29][30][31] Dreser, 32,33 Gómez-Dantés, 34,35 Molina Salazar 36,37 and Rico-Alba. 38,39 Of these six first authors, four are affiliated or were so at the time of pub- The majority of included studies did not differentiate between medicine types or their design did not mention differences amongst them (n=44, 57.9%).…”

“…Equity in the access to and use of medicines is addressed in few studies; however, they are not directly comparable due to the use of different methods. For example, the study by Murayama-Rendón 47 manages equity from the financing that is granted to each state, whilst that of Molina Salazar et al 36 focuses on out-ofpocket spending by social strata. To generate greater evidence of equity in medicines access and use, longitudinal and comparative studies should be conducted, international standards for writing research reports should be established, and different population groups (e.g.…”