Cost-minimization analysis of teledermatology versus conventional care in the Brazilian National Health System.

Cost-minimization analysis (CMA) comparing the teledermatology service of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil with the provision of conventional care, from the societal perspective. All costs related to direct patient care were considered in calculation of outpatient costs. The evaluation was performed using the parameters avoided referrals and profile of hospitalizations.

Strategies to improve the availability of medicines in primary health care in Brazil: findings and implications.

Access to essential medicines is a key component of managing patients in ambulatory care. In 2008, the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, created the Pharmacy Network of Minas (Rede Farmácia de Minas [RFM]) program to improve access to medicines, increasing availability and restructuring the infrastructures. The aim was to assess the current situation, comparing municipalities with and without RFM.

Integrative Review of Managed Entry Agreements: Chances and Limitations.

Background And Objective: Managed entry agreements (MEAs) consist of a set of instruments to reduce the uncertainty and the budget impact of new high-priced medicines; however, there are concerns. There is a need to critically appraise MEAs with their planned introduction in Brazil. Accordingly, the objective of this article is to identify and appraise key attributes and concerns with MEAs among payers and their advisers, with the findings providing critical considerations for Brazil and other high- and middle-income countries.

Funding and Service Organization to Achieve Universal Health Coverage for Medicines: An Economic Evaluation of the Best Investment and Service Organization for the Brazilian Scenario.

Background: There are many health benefits since 31 years after the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS) in Brazil, especially the increase in life expectancy. However, family-income inequalities, insufficient funding, and suboptimal private sector-public sector collaboration are still areas for improvement. The efforts of Brazil to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) for medicines have resulted in increased public financing of medicines and their availability, reducing avoidable hospitalization and mortality.

Indicator of access to medicines in relation to the multiple dimensions of access.

Creation of a single indicator of access to medicines. Data collection was performed with individuals who obtained their medication from either public and/or private pharmacies. A Likert scale was used to measure the importance and satisfaction in relation to various access dimensions.

Who should pay for the continuity of post-trial health care treatments?

Background: The bioethical debate in the world on who should pay for the continuity of post-trials treatment of patients that have medical indication remains obscure and introduces uncertainties to the patients involved in the trials. The continuity of post-trial treatment was only incorporated in the 2000s by the Helsinki Declaration. The Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, published in 2006, points out that post-trial continuity may present a broader scope than just the availability of the investigated medicine.

Confidentiality agreements: a challenge in market regulation.

Background: Sustainability and the ability to maintain the right to health, with the guarantee of access to quality medicines and health services, have been a great challenge for countries with universal health systems. The great technological advances bring with it an expressive increase in the expenditures of the health systems, especially those directed towards the acquisition of high-cost drugs, which are still under patent protection, have a high cost and, in some cases, present uncertainties about their effectiveness and safety. As a way of maintaining the proper functioning of the systems and guaranteeing access to these medicines, some countries started to negotiate discounts with manufacturing companies.

Consumer willingness to pay for a hypothetical Zika vaccine in Brazil and the implications.

Unlabelled: ABSTRACT  Background: Zika virus is a newly emerging infection, associated with increasingly large outbreaks especially in tropical countries such as Brazil. A future Zika vaccine can contribute to decreasing the number of cases and associated complications. Information about consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical Zika vaccine can help price setting discussions in the future in Brazil, starting with the private market.

Infrastructure evaluation of Pharmaceutical Services in the National Health System of Minas Gerais.

Objectives: To characterize the infrastructure of public pharmacies in Minas Gerais, comparing municipalities that have received the RFM program to the ones that haven't, in order to verify if the State's Economic Incentives implied in improvement of local Pharmaceutical Services (PS).

Methods: A cross-sectional, exploratory, evaluative study in a representative sample of the municipalities of Minas Gerais. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with users, physicians, and drug dispensers, as well as observation of pharmacy facilities and telephone interviews with municipal officials from the PS.

Economic evaluation of the Programs Rede Farmácia de Minas do SUS versus Farmácia Popular do Brasil.

We conducted an economic assessment of the Pharmaceutical Assistance - Rede Farmácia de Minas Gerais-RFMG and Farmácia Popular do Brasil-FPB to ascertain which of the two models stands out as the most efficient. To do this, a model, which consisted of a study of incurred costs in both programs, up to the dispensing of medicine to citizens, was developed. The uncertainties of the proposed model were tested using the Monte Carlo method.