Calling for policy actions to increase access to long-acting antipsychotics in low-income and middle-income countries.

Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci

Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

Published: May 2022

Schizophrenia-spectrum disorders are associated with substantial impairment and disability. Lack of treatment adherence is a major issue, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite growing evidence supporting second-generation long-acting antipsychotics (LAIs) as an effective strategy to ensure continued maintenance treatment in schizophrenia, access to these technologies has been very limited in constrained-resource settings. Including second-generation LAIs in national and international essential medicines lists and evidence-based guidelines, promoting public health-oriented patent pooling and extending their availability to primary health care settings, are key actions that should urgently be implemented to increase access to long-acting technologies. Implementing these policy actions can pragmatically improve treatment adherence, ultimately tackling schizophrenia-related impairment and disability in LMICs, which can be regarded as a global health priority.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9121849PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S2045796022000166DOI Listing

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