Prices, availability and affordability of insulin products: a cross‐sectional survey in Shaanxi Province, western China

• DOI: 10.1111/tmi.13167
• Publication Date: 2018-10-11T14:50:30Z
• Authors: Zongjie Li; Qinqin Feng; John Alimamy Kabba; Caijun Yang; Jie Chang; Minghuan Jiang; Mingyue Zhao; Jiale Yu; Sen Xu; Qian Li; Panpan Zhai; Yu Fang
• Keywords: 2. Zero hunger; China; Public Sector; Prescription Fees; Health Services Accessibility; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; 0302 clinical medicine; Costs and Cost Analysis; Humans; Insulin; Drugs, Essential

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate price, availability and affordability of insulin products in Shaanxi Province, western China.MethodsWe used a simplified and adapted WHO/Health Action International method to obtain the availability and prices of insulin products and five oral anti‐diabetic medicines as comparators in public general hospitals and private retail outlets. In addition, we investigated the price components of eight selected insulin products by tracing the supply chain.ResultsAll three kinds of insulin products, prandial, basal and premixed insulin, are 100% available in public hospitals, and have fairly high availability in the private sector (62.5–68.8%). The prices of most insulin products were higher than international reference prices in both sectors (ranging from 0.95 times to 2.33 times). All insulin products were unaffordable as they would cost 3.5–17.1 days' wage of the lowest‐paid government workers in Shaanxi. The manufacturer's markup (selling price), which comprised more than 60% of the final price of all insulin products surveyed, was the largest price component.ConclusionsAlthough availability of insulin products was high in public general hospitals and private retail pharmacies, their high price made them unaffordable to diabetes patients, especially low‐income patients. The government should increase insurance compensation for those who need these life‐saving medicines or decrease the cost of insulin products through negotiation with suppliers.