ArticleAfrican journal of primary health care & family medicine2021
Retail pharmacy prescription medicines' availability, prices and affordability in Eswatini.
Article in African journal of primary health care & family medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Implementation of WHO-PEN interventions in Eswatini: an assessment of health equity and out-of-pocket expenditure for diabetes and hypertension care.International journal for equity in health · 2026Trial
- Availability, prices and affordability of nationally negotiated antidiabetic medicines in China: a national survey.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- The triple burden: A systematic review and meta-analysis of essential medicine availability, price, and affordability across Ethiopian health facilities.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Review
- Assessment of prices, availability and affordability of essential medicines in Juba County, South Sudan.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023Article
- A desktop review of evaluation of implementation of national medicines policies in SADC countries.Heliyon · 2023Review
- Evaluating the national system for rare diseases in China from the point of drug access: progress and challenges.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundLimited availability of medicines in public facilities and unaffordable prices in the private sector act as barriers to medicines' access. Patients in Eswatini may be forced to buy medicine from the private sector resulting from chronic medicines' shortages in public health facilities. The extent to which they can afford to do so is unknown.
aimTo determine the availability, price and affordability of medicines in the retail pharmacies in Eswatini, and to compare the results regionally and internationally.
settingRetail pharmacy sector in the four administrative regions of Eswatini.
methodsData on availability, price and affordability to patients for 50 medicines in the originator brand (OB) and the lowest priced generic (LPG) equivalent, were collated using the standardised World Health Organization/Health Action International methodology from 32 retail pharmacies in the four regions of Eswatini. Prices were then compared with selected countries.
resultsThe overall mean availability of all medicines in selected retail pharmacies was 38.5%; standard deviation [s.d.] = 20.4% for OBs and 80.9%; s.d. = 19.0% for LPGs. The overall median price ratio (MPR) in the surveyed pharmacies was 18.61 for the OBs and 4.67 for LPGs. Most standard treatments with LPGs cost less than a day's wages whilst for OBs cost more than a day's wages. The differences between Eswatini and South African prices were statistically significant.
conclusionDrug pricing policies and price monitoring tools are needed for the whole pharmaceutical chain in Eswatini to monitor availability, affordability and accessibility of medicines to the general populace.
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