Health Technology Assessment in Support of National Health Insurance in South Africa.

South Africa has embarked on major health policy reform to deliver universal health coverage through the establishment of National Health Insurance (NHI). The aim is to improve access, remove financial barriers to care, and enhance care quality. Health technology assessment (HTA) is explicitly identified in the proposed NHI legislation and will have a prominent role in informing decisions about adoption and access to health interventions and technologies.

Impact of the introduction of mandatory generic substitution in South Africa: private sector sales of generic and originator medicines for chronic diseases.

Objective: To assess the impact of mandatory offer of generic substitution, introduced in South Africa in May 2003, on private sector sales of generic and originator medicines for chronic diseases.

Methods: Private sector sales data (June 2001 to May 2005) were obtained from IMS Health for proton pump inhibitors (PPIs; ATC code A02BC), HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins; C10AA), dihydropyridine calcium antagonists (C08CA), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I; C09AA) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs; N06AB). Monthly sales were expressed as defined daily doses per 1000 insured population per month (DDD/TIM).

The relevance of systematic reviews on pharmaceutical policy to low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) rely on available evidence when devising and implementing pharmaceutical policies. Aim of the review To provide a critical overview of systematic reviews of pharmaceutical policies, with particular focus on the relevance of such reviews in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods: A search for systematic reviews (SRs) of studies of the interventions of interest was conducted until May 2009 in MEDLINE, EconLit, CINAHL, the Cochrane site, ProQuest, EMBASE, JOLIS, ISI Web of Science, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, International Network for Rational Use of Drugs, National Technical Information Service, Public Affairs Information Service, SourceOECD, the System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe, and the WHO library database.