September 24, 2012 – 5.35 pm
(ASCA) - Rome, Sept. 24 - In the first four months of 2012, net NHS affiliated pharmaceutical expenditure recorded a decrease of -11.5% compared to the same period of 2011. This was noted by Federfarma, in disseminating pharmaceutical expenditure data from January to April 2012.
On the other hand, the trend towards an increase in the number of recipes is attenuated, which grew by +0.2%, while in 2011 it was equal to +0.6%. In some regions, the number of prescriptions decreased in the first four months of 2012, probably following an increase in direct distribution or distribution by pharmacies on behalf of the local health authorities, the costs of which are accounted for separately. Since April 2012, the decrease in the number of prescriptions appears almost generalised.
In the period January-April 2012 there were over 201 million prescriptions, equal to 3.34 prescriptions for each citizen.
Over 370 million packs of medicines dispensed by the NHS, with an increase of +0.3% compared to the first quarter of 2011. Every Italian citizen collected an average of 6.2 packs of medicines from the pharmacy by the NHS. The increase in the number of packages is slightly greater than that of the number of recipes as there has been an increase, albeit small, in the average number of packages prescribed for each recipe.
