Progress in increasing affordability of medicines for non-communicable diseases since the introduction of mandatory health insurance in the Republic of Moldova.

Background: To assess progress in improving affordability of medicines since the introduction of mandatory health insurance in the Republic of Moldova.

Method: Using data from national health insurance, we estimate affordability of partially reimbursed medicines for the treatment of non-communicable diseases, and analyse which factors contributed to changes in affordability.

Results: Affordability of subsidized medicines improved over time.

Antibiotic use in eastern Europe: a cross-national database study in coordination with the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

Background: There are no reliable data on antibiotic use in non-European Union (EU) southern and eastern European countries and newly independent states. We aimed to collect valid, representative, comparable data on systemic antimicrobial use in these non-EU countries of the WHO European region.

Methods: Validated 2011 total national wholesale antibiotic-use data of six southern and eastern European countries and regions and seven newly independent states were analysed in accordance with the WHO anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC)/defined daily doses (DDD) method and expressed in DDD/1000 inhabitants per day (DID).

An in-depth analysis of pharmaceutical regulation in the Republic of Moldova.

Objective: Regulation of the pharmaceutical system is a crucial, yet often neglected, component in ensuring access to safe and effective medicines. The aim of this study was to provide an in-depth analysis of the existing pharmaceutical regulation, including recent changes, in the Republic of Moldova.

Methods: Data from field work conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) together with a review of policy documents and quantitative secondary data analysis was used to achieve this aim.

An assessment of community pharmacists' attitudes towards professional practice in the Republic of Moldova.

Unlabelled: Pharmacy in Moldova is undergoing a period of transition. The professional practice is adjusting to a market-oriented economy from the previous Soviet system. The pharmaceutical sector has been liberalised giving rise to a significant increase in the number of community pharmacies.