Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31816069›Full record

ArticleHealth policy and planning2019

Access to medicines through health systems in low- and middle-income countries.

Sachiko Ozawa, Raja Shankar, Christine Leopold, Samuel Orubu

Abstract readEditorial
In one paragraph

Article in Health policy and planning, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
71citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

71 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
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  4. Pricing of innovative medicines and advanced therapies worldwide: an scoping review.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026
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  20. Drug utilisation research and medicine access in Mozambique: An overview.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025
    Review

11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Sachiko OzawaMedicines in Health Systems Thematic Working Group, Health Systems Global, Geneva, Switzerland.
Raja ShankarMedicines in Health Systems Thematic Working Group, Health Systems Global, Geneva, Switzerland.
Christine LeopoldMedicines in Health Systems Thematic Working Group, Health Systems Global, Geneva, Switzerland.
Samuel OrubuMedicines in Health Systems Thematic Working Group, Health Systems Global, Geneva, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Nearly 2 billion people globally have no access to essential medicines. This means essential medicines are unavailable, unaffordable, inaccessible, unacceptable or of low quality for more than a quarter of the population worldwide. This supplement demonstrates the implications of poor medicine access and highlights recent innovations to improve access to essential medicines by presenting new research findings from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These studies answer key questions such as: Can performance-based financing improve availability of essential medicines? How affordable are cardiovascular treatments for children? Which countries' legal frameworks promote universal access to medicines? How appropriately are people using medicines? Do poor-quality medicines impact equity? Answers to these questions are important as essential medicines are vital to the Sustainable Development Goals and are central to the goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage. Access to affordable, quality-assured essential medicines is crucial to reducing the financial burden of care, preventing greater pain and suffering, shortening the duration of illness, and averting needless disabilities and deaths worldwide. This supplement was organized by the Medicines in Health Systems Thematic Working Group of Health Systems Global, a membership organization dedicated to promoting health systems research and knowledge translation. The five studies in the supplement further our understanding by showcasing recent successes and challenges of improving access to quality-assured medicines through health systems in LMICs.

Indexed as

Developing CountriesHealth Services AccessibilityDrugs, EssentialHumansLegislation, DrugUniversal Health InsuranceDrugs, EssentialAccessdeveloping countriesdrugshealth systemsmedicinespharmaceuticalspublic health

Identifiers

PMID31816069
PMCPMC6901066

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.