Database of medicine prices, availability, affordability and price components

One of the aims of the WHO/HAI Project on Medicine Prices and Availability is to publish the country survey data on a publicly accessible website to improve price transparency. Since 2003, a database of survey findings has been available on the medicine prices section of the HAI Global website. As part of the publishing of the updated second edition of the manual in 2008, the database has been revised to facilitate easier navigation, more analysis and better presentation of the data.

Presentation of data

Data is presented in terms of price, availability, affordability and price components.

Price data for individual medicines is presented in a number ways:
 
  • Median unit prices (e.g. tablet, millilitre, vial, dose for an inhaler) in local currency
  • Median unit prices in US dollars
  • A ratio to an international reference price (expressed as the Median Price Ratio, MPR).
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    Summary price data is expressed as the median MPR.

    The MPR is calculated as the median local unit price divided by the international unit reference price in local currency using the exchange rate on the first day of data collection. Most surveys use Management Sciences for Health (MSH) International Drug Price Indicator Guide as the source of the reference prices.


    The availability of individual medicines is reported as the percentage of medicine outlets in which the medicine was found on the day of data collection. Summary data for availability is presented as either the median or mean availability of the medicines in the selected basket.

    Affordability is the cost of treatment in relation to peoples’ income.
    In the WHO/HAI methodology, the measure is number of days of work by the lowest-paid unskilled national government worker to purchase a defined course of treatment for a specific condition.

    Other notes
    Whilst availability data is calculated for all medicines surveyed, price data is not calculated for a medicine in a particular sector unless it was found in at least 4 outlets (with the exception of procurement prices collected centrally from a procurement office or central medical store). Likewise the affordability related to that medicine will not be calculated for a sector where it was found in less than 4 outlets.

    Where medicines are provided free of charge to all patients – or always available at standard fee, irrespective of the medicine dispensed, the cost is covered by another means such as social health insurance – data on medicine availability is only collected and not price.

    Understanding the data

    The full manual can be downloaded by clicking on the picture above. Below are links to those sections of the manual which should assist your understanding and interpretation of the data most:
     
  • For an overview of the objectives and key elements of the design of the methodology including descriptions of the global and regional lists of medicines, types of medicines surveyed – see chapter 2.
  • The precise details for a particular survey of the regions and sectors surveyed, the sampling approach and other details, refer to the individual survey reports
  • About international reference prices - see chapter 3 (box 3.5)
  • For guidance on the analysis and interpretation of the findings, which are discussed in the context of using the survey workbook for analysing the findings of an individual survey – but also applicable also to the database - see chapter 8
  • On carrying out international comparisons - see chapter 10
  • About price components - see chapter 9
  • For abbreviations and glossary
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    Data can be viewed for all medicines in a survey (‘All medicines’), those on the WHO/HAI global list (‘Global list medicines’) and those identified as being on the national essential medicines list (‘EML medicines’). The global list comprises 14 commonly-used medicines for acute and chronic conditions. Surveys are encouraged to include all 14 on the list so international price comparisons are possible. In some cases, 1 or 2 are excluded as they are not marketed in the country.

    WHO/HAI global core list medicines:
    amitriptyline 25 mg cap/tab, amoxicillin 500mg cap/tab, atenolol 50mg cap/tab, captopril 25 mg cap/tab, ceftriaxone injection 1 g/vial, ciprofloxacin 500 mg cap/tab, co-trimoxazole suspension 40+200 mg/5ml, diazepam 5 mg cap/tab, diclofenac 50 mg cap/tab, glibenclamide 5 mg cap/tab, omeprazole 20 mg cap/tab, paracetamol suspension 120mg/5ml, salbutamol inhaler 100 mcg/dose, simvastatin 20 mg cap/tab
    Use of the database

    The database can operated using most web-browsers, however operates best with “Internet Explorer”. The data can be viewed, printed and also exported to Excel. When exporting to Excel, select “yes” when the warning message pops-up asking if you want to download because the file format is different from the file extension.

    Disclaimer

    Health Action International (HAI) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the survey data and information (e.g. price, availability, affordability and component price data). However, the data and information in the reports and other documents are being provided on this web site as received by HAI and WHO. Neither organisations are responsible for accuracy, completeness or fitness for a particular purpose. Thus HAI and WHO do not accept any responsibility or liability in regard of the reliance on, or use of, such data and information.