A national survey on registered products, availability, prices, and affordability of 100 essential medicines in community pharmacies across Sri Lanka.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Availability of essential medicines that meet the expected quality standards, in appropriate dosage forms at affordable prices is a fundamental prerequisite to fulfill healthcare needs of given a population. This study assessed available products, prices and affordability of essential medicines (EM) in community pharmacies in Sri Lanka with comparison of registration status from the National Medicines Regulatory Authority(NMRA).

Methods

A cross-sectional island-wide survey of 80 pharmacies was conducted according to World Health Organization and Health Action International Manual (WHO/HAI). Hundred medicines were selected from the global core list(n = 14), regional core list(n = 16) and the Sri Lanka Essential Medicine List (SL-EML) (n = 70) based on healthcare

SUBMITTER: Liyanage CK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10585786 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature