Pharmaceutical pricing policies in Qatar and Lebanon: narrative review and document analysis

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed at reviewing and analysing the pharmaceutical pricing policies implemented in two middle-east countries. Methods Official documents related to national pharmaceutical pricing policies were reviewed, and meetings with key informants in the registration and pricing departments in the Qatari and Lebanese ministries of public health were conducted. Key findings As of April 2017, the laws currently in effect in Qatar and Lebanon are based on the latest versions of decrees enacted in 2011 and 2005 respectively. Both countries have implemented similar pharmaceutical pricing policies which apply only to the private sectors in both countries. Landing price in Lebanon is either free-on-board (FOB) or cost-insurance-freight (CIF) while it is only CIF in Qatar. External reference pricing and mark-up regulations were two of the common policies identified in both countries. For external reference pricing, the basket of countries considered and the price adopted were different. Mark-ups were applied with different schemes along the pharmaceutical supply chain in each country with Qatar imposing an overall higher mark-up margin. Moreover, Qatar utilized health technology assessment whenever such economic evaluation studies were available at the time of medicine registration. These pricing strategies applied to both public and private sectors in Lebanon, while they only applied to the private sector in Qatar. Conclusions The pharmaceutical pricing policies implemented in Qatar and Lebanon are reflective of both the advancements in the human capital and financial resources of the nations and are in line with the World Health Organization-recommended pricing policies for developing countries.

Improving the availability of prescription drugs in Lebanon: a critical analysis of alternative policy options

“…Amending the subsidy system will allow the central bank to channel savings towards financing additional imports of raw materials used in local manufacturing of drugs to support local production. Industry support by the government can also be in the form of offering local pharmaceutical companies financial incentives, including exemption from corporate income tax [ 28 , 29 ]. This strategy has been employed in other Arab (Bahrain and Kuwait) [ 30 ] and developing (India and West Africa) countries and is proven to be effective in supporting local pharmaceutical production [ 31 , 32 ].…”

Identifying priority medicines policy issues for Qatar: exploring perspectives and experiences of healthcare professionals through a qualitative study

“…These documents govern the use of and access to medicines in Qatar. 11 The pharmaceutical sector and public healthcare governed by Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), including public and private pharmacies and medication warehouses. 6 In 2019, Qatar spent QAR 2.4 billion (US$657 million) on medicines.…”

“…22 It was observed that Qatar's national medicines policy is not available as one single document, but is an amalgamation of a set of regulations, procedures, rules, strategies, control processes and standard operating procedures regarding the use of and access to medicines. 11…”

“…The medicines pricing method in the public sector is not publicly available, but medicine prices in the public sector are noted to be considerably lower than in the private sector. 11 Issues with access to medicines in Qatar The participants have the opinion that overall, consumers and patients have access to a large number of medicines in Qatar, though there are issues with a few medicines. Specifically, the public sector in Qatar has a satisfactory level of availability of medicines, 24 but the issues mentioned included inconsistency of the medicines supply, limited range of some classes of medicines, and the fact that not all registered medicines are available.…”

Relationship between pharmaceutical pricing strategies with price, availability, and affordability of cardiovascular disease medicines: surveys in Qatar and Lebanon

“…Moreover, the medicine prices were perceived to be high in these two countries compared to respective neighboring countries [15–17]. Considering this evidence, Abdel Rida et al conducted a narrative review and document analysis of the pharmaceutical pricing policies in Qatar and Lebanon [18]. Both Qatar and Lebanon have implemented similar pharmaceutical pricing policies.…”