'We need to be part of the solution': lessons from the 2024 PPRI Conference on ensuring access to affordable medicines through innovative policies.

On 25-26 April 2024, the 5th PPRI (Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Information) Conference on ensuring equitable access to affordable medicines took place in Vienna (Austria). Twenty-four accepted contributions were presented either as oral presentations or posters, adding to invited keynote lectures, stakeholder debates and workshops. The global multi-stakeholder audience discussed a range of approaches in pharmaceutical policies, which have the potential to successfully and sustainably address current and future challenges in ensuring patient access to affordable medicines globally.

The Role of Helmet Therapy in Craniosynostosis: A Systematic Review.

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of helmet therapy (HT) as a treatment for craniosynostosis, with a focus on the outcomes of skull morphology, reoperation rate, complications of HT, and quality of life of patients who receive it. A systematic literature review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The review utilized the PICO format: Does HT following strip craniectomy (SC) improve outcomes (outcome) compared to SC alone (comparison) in patients undergoing craniosynostosis correction (intervention)? Searches were performed from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2022, using PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Ovid Medline databases.

Understanding medicine access strategies for innovator medicines registered in South Africa.

Background: South Africa is composed of a two-tier healthcare system. One tier is a private healthcare system that is funded through medical insurance, and comprised of people who can afford to make monthly payments towards their medical insurance. Second tier is a government-funded public healthcare system, which covers the majority of the population.

Community pharmacists' perceptions and experiences of medicine shortages in disruptive situations: a qualitative study.

Background: Medicine shortages are a challenge in upper, lower and middle-income countries, including South Africa. In recent years, community pharmacists, in Durban, South Africa, have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, flooding, civil unrest and electricity disruptions. Little is known about the impact of these disruptions on medicine shortages in community pharmacies.