Controlling medicine prices in Sudan: the challenge of the recently established Medicines Regulatory Authority

Ali, Gamal Khalafalla Mohamed; Yahia, Yassine

doi:10.26719/2012.18.8.811

Cited by 8 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Weak systems for government direct price control may not lead to the required outcome. As revealed in Sudan (52) and Philippines (72), regulation of medicines prices does not guarantee reduction in the prices of essential medicines and improved availability and affordability. It is therefore important to critically examine appropriateness of implementation approaches for achieving outcomes within speci c contexts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study in China also revealed contextual barriers such as lack of enforcement of pricing regulations and policies, with authors encouraging strong governance structures and legal frameworks to ensure enforcement (85). The monitoring and enforcement of medicines pricing frameworks need to be supported by well trained and skilled personnel, which is often lacking in different SSA countries (52,54).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overall, implementation of the different medicine pricing policies largely suggests a reduction in the prices of medicines. The results of the review showed that implementation of the tiered pricing (segmented pricing based on targeted markets), voluntary licensing (removing of regulatory barriers) and generic policy (promoting prescribing generic medicines) in seven different countries across Africa led to reductions in generic Direct Acting Antivirals (DAA) from $1200 to between $684 and $750 i.e., the generic medicines were 40% cheaper than the originator prices (52). However, some medicine pricing policies did not change much or appear to in uence the prevailing medicine prices following implementation (42).…”

Section: Effect On Prices Of Medicinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although one of the goals of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act (2001) implemented in Sudan was to control prices of the medicines through regulating mark-ups along the supply chain, the evidence generated revealed that the policy did not appear to have an effect in the prevailing medicine prices (52). The weak pharmaceutical price mechanism in Sudan coupled with weak medicine control departments or lack of capacity to regulate activities of importers and retailers were the possible explanation (52).…”

Section: Effect On Prices Of Medicinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Implementation of Medicines Pricing Policies In Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review

Koduah

Baatiema

Chavez

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: High medicine prices contribute to increasing cost of healthcare worldwide. Many patients with limited resources in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), are confronted with out-of-pocket charges, constraining their access to medicines. Different medicine pricing policies are implemented to improve affordability and availability. However, evidence on the experiences of implementations of these policies in SSA settings appears limited. To bridge this knowledge gap, we reviewed published evidence and answered the question: what are the key determinants of implementation of medicines pricing policies in SSA countries? Methods: We identified policies, examined implementation processes, key actors involved, contextual influences on and impact of these policies. We searched five databases and grey literature; screening was done in two stages following clear inclusion criteria. A structured template guided the data extraction and data analysis followed thematic narrative synthesis. The review followed best practices and reported using PRISMA guidelines.Results: Of the 5595 studies identified, 32 met the inclusion criteria. The results showed fourteen pricing policies were implemented across SSA between 2003 and 2020. These were in four domains: targeted public subsides, regulatory frameworks and direct price control, generic medicine policies and purchasing policies. Main actors involved were government, wholesalers, manufacturers, retailers, professional bodies, community members and private and public health facilities. Key contextual barriers to implementation were: limited awareness about policies, lack of regulatory capacity, and lack of price transparency in external reference pricing process. Key facilitators were: favourable policy environment on essential medicines, strong political will, and international support. Evidence on effectiveness of these policies on reducing prices of, and improving access to, medicines were mixed. Reductions in prices were reported occasionally and implementation of medicine pricing policy sometimes led to improved availability and affordability to essential medicines.Conclusions: Implementation of medicine pricing policies in SSA shows some mixed evidence of improved availability and affordability to essential medicines. It is important to understand country-specific experiences, diversity of policy actors and contextual barriers and facilitators to policy implementation. Our study suggests three policy implications: avoiding ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, engaging both private and public sector policy actors in policy implementation and continuously monitor implementation and effects of policies. Systematic review protocol registration: PROSPERO registration number CRD42020178166.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effect On Prices Of Medicinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effect On Prices Of Medicinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Implementation of Medicines Pricing Policies In Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review

Koduah

Baatiema

Chavez

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Starting with a description of regulatory policies in Norway [70], and China [71], peer-reviewed literature initially featured mainly high-income countries. More recently a number of similar peer-reviewed studies have been published on LMIC countries [72]. OECD and WHO have, in contrast, been regularly publishing similar studies on LMIC, frequently available in non-English or even the native country languages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing pharmaceutical pricing - a scoping review of academic literature in health science

Santos

Dias

Santos-Pinto

et al. 2019

J of Pharm Policy and Pract

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Introduction Pharmaceutical pricing has only recently gained space in mainstream health science literature. Objectives Bibliometric and content description of health science academic literature and ad hoc analysis of grey literature on factors influencing pharmaceutical pricing on databases commonly accessed by healthcare professionals. Methods Scoping study with no time limits performed in Medline, Scopus and Scielo, and relevant sites and databases for grey literature, using search terms with database-appropriate keywords . Results Two hundred four articles were published in 103 peer-reviewed journals between 1981 and 2016 (last search year). In grey literature 78 documents were retrieved in the final selection. Five key thematic clusters for analysing pharmaceutical pricing emerged: market dynamics, segmented into (i) supply-related, (ii) consumer-related and (iii) product-related; (iv) trading strategies, either buyer’s or seller’s and (v) regulatory approach. In peer-reviewed literature there is an overall dominance of themes referring to trading strategies and regulatory approaches and a wide thematic cluster scope. Over half of this literature was produced after the year 2010. International agency technical papers make up the most significant contributions of grey literature, with a clear focus on regulatory approaches to pricing and wider consideration of emerging countries. Research lags in the literature on factors affecting pharmaceutical pricing include impacts of financing schemes, market liberalization, internet trading and biosimilars on prices, with insufficient discussion identified for the effects of discounts/rebates, profits and price transparency. Conclusions Interest in pharmaceutical pricing literature is increasing. Robust evidence-producing study designs for pricing interventions will be a welcome development. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40545-019-0183-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Pharmacy Practice in Sudan

Alfadl¹,

Ali²,

Yousif³

et al. 2016

Pharmacy Practice in Developing Countries

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Controlling medicine prices in Sudan: the challenge of the recently established Medicines Regulatory Authority

Cited by 8 publications

References 3 publications

Implementation of Medicines Pricing Policies In Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review

Implementation of Medicines Pricing Policies In Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review

Factors influencing pharmaceutical pricing - a scoping review of academic literature in health science

Pharmacy Practice in Sudan

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