Health Care and Pharmacy Practice in South Africa

Gray, Andy; Riddin, Jane; Jugathpal, J

doi:10.4212/cjhp.v69i1.1521

Cited by 33 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The public sector is run and managed by the government, rendering its services through public hospitals categorised by their levels of care as central, tertiary, district, and regional as well as clinics. This sector provides healthcare services to 82.5-84% of the population while only 17.5% of the population is serviced by the private sector [22,30]. Healthcare services in the public sector are financed through general tax revenues while healthcare services in the private sector are largely financed by medical aid schemes with a small fraction financed through out of pocket payments [30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This sector provides healthcare services to 82.5-84% of the population while only 17.5% of the population is serviced by the private sector [22,30]. Healthcare services in the public sector are financed through general tax revenues while healthcare services in the private sector are largely financed by medical aid schemes with a small fraction financed through out of pocket payments [30]. The cost of medical schemes has kept the majority of the population from accessing the services in the private sector [31]; however, there is controversy regarding the extent of payments [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Medicine shortages and challenges with the procurement process among public sector hospitals in South Africa; findings and implications

Modisakeng

Matlala

Godman

et al. 2020

BMC Health Serv Res

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Background: Medicine shortages are a complex global challenge affecting all countries. This includes South Africa where ongoing medicine shortages are a concern among public sector hospitals as South Africa strives for universal access to healthcare. The objectives of this research were to highlight challenges in the current pharmaceutical procurement process for public sector hospitals. Subsequently, suggest potential ways forward based on the findings as the authorities in South Africa seek to improve the procurement process. Method: Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 pharmacy managers in public sector hospitals in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. A thematic content analysis was performed, with transcripts coded by two of the authors. Coding was discussed until consensus was reached. Categories were developed and grouped into themes. Results:The 'Procurement process' emerged from the data as the overarching theme, rooted in three main themes: (i) The buy-out process that was used to procure medicines from suppliers other than the contracted ones; (ii) Suppliers not performing thereby contributing to medicine shortages in the hospitals; and (iii) Challenges such as the inaccuracy of the electronic inventory management system used in the hospitals. Conclusions: Effective management of contracts of suppliers by the Provincial Department of Health is crucial to ensure accessibility and availability of essential medicines to all citizens of South Africa. Ongoing monitoring and support for the future use of computerised inventory management systems is important to reduce medicine shortages, and this is being followed up.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medicine shortages and challenges with the procurement process among public sector hospitals in South Africa; findings and implications

Modisakeng

Matlala

Godman

et al. 2020

BMC Health Serv Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Regarding generics, more transparency for the consumer is necessary. Globally accepted reference products, such Population (million) [50] 82.67 55.91 GDP (billion US$) [51] 3466.76 294.84 Health expenditure (% of GDP) [52] 11.3 8.8 Life expectancy (years) [53] 81.0 62.9 Population privately insured (%) [54,55] 10. 6 17 as the products proposed in the WHO prequalification of medicines, could help to align the quality of generics worldwide.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in drug quality between South Africa and Germany

Lehmann

Hofsäss

Dressman

2018

Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology

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“…Principle areas of practice in Europe are 78.5% in community, 8.9% in hospital and 12.6% in other areas [23]. In South Africa 68.3% of registered pharmacists practiced in the community sector in 2014 [24]. Any regulation must be carefully monitored to ensure stability and job security in this market.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To evaluate the impact of opening up ownership of pharmacies in South Africa

Moodley

Suleman

2020

J of Pharm Policy and Pract

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Background: Following the democratic elections in 1994 the South African private pharmaceutical services were mostly in metropolitan centred with a scattering of pharmacies in less densely populated areas. The Government introduced regulations relating to the ownership and licensing of pharmacies on the 25th of April 2003 to improve access to pharmaceutical services by removing ownership restriction to only pharmacists. Objective: To assess the outcomes of the policy implementation in improving access to pharmacies. Method: The register of pharmacies at the South African Pharmacy Council was analysed from 1994 to 2014. Each registration was assigned GPS coordinates using Q-GIS(V3.6) and mapped per province at a district level, following clean-up and verification of the register. New registrations were also categorised as either corporate or independent pharmacy. Population census was obtained from Statistics South Africa and used to determine the number of pharmacies per 100,000 population. Main outcome measure(s): Number of active pharmacies; Number of independent pharmacies; number of pharmacies in each district. Results: The number of active pharmacies increased from 1624 at the end of 2003 to 3021 by 2014. The closure rate decreased from 137 to 86 pharmacies per year post regulations, a 37.23% reduction with a net gain of approximately 127 pharmacies per year. About 38.30% of all pre-2003 pharmacies (622 of 1624) closed by 2014. The population increase in the study period was approximately 20.66% but the overall growth of pharmacies was only 1.88 pharmacies per 100,000 population (3.55 to 5.43). Following the regulations in 2004, 23.9% of pharmacies active within the system closed between 2004 and 2014, of which, 91.7% of them were independent pharmacies. Conclusion: Opening up of pharmacy ownership in South Africa increased the number of pharmacies in the country but did not result in increased access in previously less populated areas. There was still clustering of pharmacies in a well resourced areas, with a steady growth in corporate pharmacy (35%) ownership.

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Health Care and Pharmacy Practice in South Africa

Abstract: -

Cited by 33 publications

References 4 publications

Medicine shortages and challenges with the procurement process among public sector hospitals in South Africa; findings and implications

Medicine shortages and challenges with the procurement process among public sector hospitals in South Africa; findings and implications

Differences in drug quality between South Africa and Germany

To evaluate the impact of opening up ownership of pharmacies in South Africa

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