Performance of a pharmaceutical services regionalization strategy policy in Minas Gerais, Brazil: Pre-post analysis from ERAF project.

Background: In 2016, the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (∼20 million people), implemented the ERAF policy ("Regionalization Strategy of Pharmaceutical Services") in an effort to improve medicine procurement and distribution within primary care. We evaluated the impact of the policy on three main goals: price reductions, volume increases, and expansion of therapeutic options. Methods: We analyzed the procurement data from the Integrated System of Management of Pharmaceutical Services database in 2012 and 2018. We estimated the volume, drug mix, and expenditure indicators for all major therapeutic classes, and, in detail, for cardiovascular and nervous system drugs. We evaluated the expenditure drivers using decomposition analyses. Results: Overall, the expenditure increased by 14.5%, drug mix almost doubled, while the volume decreased by a third. Cardiovascular and neurological system drugs followed similar patterns. Decomposition analyses showed that prices and drug mix had positive effects while the volume had negative effects, resulting in an overall increase in expenditure. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the ERAF policy cannot be considered effective as it has not fulfilled its intended purposes so far. Strategies to address the identified problems and to build a platform for a more sustainable long-lasting policy should be put in place by the government.

Prevalence and Factors Associated With Out-of-Pocket Pharmaceutical Expenditure Among Primary Healthcare Patients: Evidence From the Prover Project.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of out-of-pocket pharmaceutical expenditure (OOPPE) among primary healthcare patients. METHODS: The study is part of the Prover Project, an exit survey conducted in 2017 in a large city (population 234 937) in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. A representative sample of patients (n = 1219) from pharmaceutical services based on primary healthcare was selected. Three components of OOPPE were assessed: the general prevalence, the types of medicines purchased (medicines for the treatment of chronic diseases, medicines for the treatment of acute diseases, or herbal medicines), and coverage by the National Health System. The factors associated with OOPPE were examined applying a modified Andersen's behavioral model of health services use. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of OOPPE was 77%. Most patients who had OOPPE purchased medicines to treat chronic diseases (94%). In addition, these patients purchased medicines covered by public insurance but were out of stock (85%). OOPPE was associated with enabling factors, such as higher personal income (odds ratio [OR] 1.92; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-3.62), holding health insurance (OR 1.40; 95% CI 1.01-1.95), and higher neighborhood trust (OR 1.34; 95% CI 1.01-1.79), and with need factors, that is, poorer perception of health (OR 1.63; 95% CI 1.20-2.21), multiple comorbidities (OR 1.70; 95% CI 1.18-2.46), and higher number of prescribed medicines (OR 2.84; 95% CI 1.90-4.26). CONCLUSIONS: We found a high prevalence of OOPPE, identifying individuals more likely to incur these expenses. These findings are useful to inform policy makers from the healthcare system to plan and implement the needed interventions to protect primary care patients from this financial burden.

Childhood immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic: experiences in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi.

OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in vaccination of children younger than 1 year during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (March 2020-August 2021) in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia and Malawi. METHODS: We used data from health management information systems on vaccination of children aged 12 months or younger in districts supported by Partners In Health. We used data from January 2016 to February 2020 and a linear model with negative binomial distribution to estimate the expected immunization counts for March 2020-August 2021 with 95% prediction intervals, assuming no pandemic. We compared these expected levels with observed values and estimated the immunization deficits or excesses during the pandemic months. FINDINGS: Baseline vaccination counts varied substantially by country, with Lesotho having the lowest count and Haiti the highest. We observed declines in vaccination administration early in the COVID-19 pandemic in Haiti, Lesotho and Liberia. Continued declines largely corresponded to high rates of COVID-19 infection and discrete stock-outs. By August 2021, vaccination levels had returned to close to or above expected levels in Haiti, Liberia and Lesotho; in Malawi levels remained below expected. CONCLUSION: Patterns of childhood immunization coverage varied by country over the course of the pandemic, with significantly lower than expected vaccination levels seen in one country during subsequent COVID-19 waves. Governments and health-care stakeholders should monitor vaccine coverage closely and consider interventions, such as community outreach, to avoid or combat the disruptions in childhood vaccination.

Disruptions in maternal health service use during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: experiences from 37 health facilities in low-income and middle-income countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heterogeneously affected use of basic health services worldwide, with disruptions in some countries beginning in the early stages of the emergency in March 2020. These disruptions have occurred on both the supply and demand sides of healthcare, and have often been related to resource shortages to provide care and lower patient turnout associated with mobility restrictions and fear of contracting COVID-19 at facilities. In this paper, we assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of maternal health services using a time series modelling approach developed to monitor health service use during the pandemic using routinely collected health information systems data. We focus on data from 37 non-governmental organisation-supported health facilities in Haiti, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mexico and Sierra Leone. Overall, our analyses indicate significant declines in first antenatal care visits in Haiti (18% drop) and Sierra Leone (32% drop) and facility-based deliveries in all countries except Malawi from March to December 2020. Different strategies were adopted to maintain continuity of maternal health services, including communication campaigns, continuity of community health worker services, human resource capacity building to ensure compliance with international and national guidelines for front-line health workers, adapting spaces for safe distancing and ensuring the availability of personal protective equipment. We employ a local lens, providing prepandemic context and reporting results and strategies by country, to highlight the importance of developing context-specific interventions to design effective mitigation strategies.

Evaluating quality of care for patients with type 2 diabetes using electronic health record information in Mexico.

BACKGROUND: Several low and middle-income countries are implementing electronic health records (EHR). In the near future, EHRs could become an efficient tool to evaluate healthcare performance if appropriate indicators are developed. The aims of this study are: a) to develop quality of care indicators (QCIs) for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) health system; b) to determine the feasibility of constructing QCIs using the IMSS EHR data; and c) to evaluate the quality of care (QC) provided to IMSS patients with T2DM. METHODS: We used a three-stage mixed methods approach: a) development of QCIs following the RAND-UCLA method; b) EHR data extraction and construction of indicators; c) QC evaluation using EHR data from 25,130 T2DM patients who received care in 2009. RESULTS: We developed 18 QCIs, of which 14 were possible to construct using available EHR data. QCIs comprised both process of care and health outcomes. Several flaws in the EHR design and quality of data were identified. The indicators of process and outcomes of care suggested areas for improvement. For example, only 13.0% of patients were referred to an ophthalmologist; 3.9% received nutritional counseling; 63.2% of overweight/obese patients were prescribed metformin, and only 23% had HbA1c <7% (or plasma glucose≤130 mg/dl). CONCLUSIONS: EHR data can be used to evaluate QC. The results identified both strengths and weaknesses in the electronic information system as well as in the process and outcomes of T2DM care at IMSS. This information can be used to guide targeted interventions to improve QC.