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 Brazil - Country Assessment
The SEAM assessment took place in the state of Minas Gerais, which is located in the heart of the country. With a population of 17.5 million, of which 25 percent live in rural areas, Minas Gerais is a complex state that reflects diverse conditions found throughout the country. The SEAM assessment found that availability of basic medicines at public health facilities is a problem in Minas Gerais. Only 47 percent of a set of tracer drugs were found to be available in the public health facilities, whereas the availability in private pharmacies was much higher at 78 percent.
SEAM attributed this reduced availability of essential medicines at public-sector facilities primarily to inadequate drug management, such as inadequate needs estimation, recordkeeping, and inventory management, as well as distribution difficulties. In addition to availability, the SEAM assessment also documented problems with the quality of products and services. Fourteen percent of samples from public-sector facilities, 10 percent of samples from nongovernmental organization (NGO) facilities, and 9 percent of samples from private pharmacies did not meet pharmacopeial content, disintegration time, or dissolution time requirements. In 52 percent of pharmacies surveyed, attendants recommended an antibiotic when none was needed; in 42 percent, attendants offered information about the medicines; and in only 5 percent did attendants offer information about potential problems with the dispensed medicines. Related Information» View the Assessment Report (PDF, 321KB) » View the Survey Data (PDF, 963KB) |
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| Project Reports & Presentations Copyright ©1999-2005 Management Sciences for Health, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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Although the government is constitutionally committed to providing prescribed medicines free of charge, the assessment found that only about 30 percent of prescribed medicines were actually dispensed in the public sector. When medicines are not available in public facilities, patients often purchase prescriptions in the private sector, leading Brazilian families, on average, to spend about 86 percent of one minimum salary per year on health care.