Pharmaceutical Reform

A Guide to Improving Performance and Equity

Marc J. Roberts, Michael R. Reich

• Publisher: World Bank
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9780821387603
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Health Policy

This publication, which is based on the unique methodology and tools developed for the World Bank Institute/Harvard School of Public Health Flagship Course on Health System Reform and Sustainable Financing, provides a powerful set of resources to help policy makers better navigate the complicated process of reforming pharmaceutical systems. Its problem solving approach complements technical resources and training curricula available on the discrete elements of a pharmaceutical sector. The application of the flagship approach to the pharmaceutical sector is both useful and timely. Ensuring the availability of medicines and the effective management of their procurement and distribution is central to the drive to achieve coverage and access to basic health care that is both universal and financially sustainable. Together, the methodology and case materials contained in this publication provide a rich resource from which policy makers in developing countries may draw to guide their efforts to meet these challenges. This book is designed to help participants gain a better understanding of all that goes on in the pharmaceutical sector. As noted above, it uses the flagship framework that we helped develop over the past decade. The essence of that approach is not to try to tell policy makers in detail what they should do. Rather it comprises a set of analytical tools that are combined into an overall, structured methodology for developing, adopting, and implementing reform proposals. The flagship framework also includes a comprehensive review of reform alternatives and a systematic review of their strengths and weaknesses in various situations. Throughout this book the authors have used the flagship framework to structure our analysis of pharmaceutical reform, continuously and explicitly applying its methods and concepts to the pharmaceutical sector. With a few minor exceptions, all the examples and all of the reform options come directly from pharmaceutical reform efforts around the world. The authors have also given specific attention to issues in pharmaceutical policy related to reproductive health.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1. Introduction
• Chapter 2. Using the Flagship Framework to Reform Pharmaceutical Policy
• Chapter 3. Introduction to the Pharmaceutical Sector
• Chapter 4. Ethics and Priority Setting in Pharmaceutical Reform
• Chapter 5. Diagnosing Performance Problems and Developing a Policy Response
• Chapter 6. Managing the Politics of Pharmaceutical Policy Reform
• Chapter 7. Financing the Pharmaceutical Sector
• Chapter 8. Paying for Pharmaceuticals
• Chapter 9. Organizing the Public Sector to Improve Pharmaceutical Performance
• Chapter 10. Improving Pharmaceutical Sector Performance through Regulation
• Chapter 11. Using Persuasion to Influence Pharmaceutical Use
• Chapter 12. Conclusions
• Case Study A. Defining an Essential Medicines List in Sudamerica
• Case Study B. Registering Misoprostol in Sri Lanka
• Case Study C. Disentangling Prescribing and Dispensing in the Republic of Korea
• Case Study D. Last Mile Logistics for Essential Drugs: The Case of Zambia
• Case Study E. Drug Procurement in East Africania
• Case Study F. Converting Basic Drug Shops to Accredited Drug Dispensing Outlets in Tanzania
• Case Study G. Counterfeit Medicines in Nigeria
• Case Study H. Changing the Use of Antibiotics in Peru
• Case Study I. Preparing for Microbicide Introduction in South Africa
• Case Study J. Drug Coverage in Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme
• Index
• Figures
• Tables