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Taxing essential medicines : a sick tax that hinders access to treatment

HEALTH ACTION INTERNATIONAL (HAI)
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)
December 2009

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This issue of the bulletin includes articles about the taxes on medicines and access to medicines; a report of a survey about medicine prices and availability in Latin America and the Caribbean; and about poor access to diabetes care in the Philippines

Relevant health information for empowered citizens

HEALTH ACTION INTERNATIONAL (HAI)
2006

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Information is an integral part of healthcare: the need for patients to give informed consent is the basis of all care and treatment. For patients to be able to make informed choices they need information that is reliable, comparative and adapted to users, and that is not linked to advertising and drug promotion

Medicine prices

HEALTH ACTION INTERNATIONAL, EUROPE

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This website contains a database of the results of over 50 surveys, along with survey reports and other information about the prices of medicines in different countries. The surveys were carried out following the publication by Health Action International and the World Health Organization (Department of Medicine Policy and Standards) of a working draft manual to collect and analyse the prices people pay for a selection of important medicines across sectors and regions in a country, as well as medicine availability, treatment affordability and all price components in the supply chain (taxes, mark-ups etc.) in 2003. Governments, NGOs and others concerned about the prices of medicines are encouraged to undertake a survey using the methodology outlined in the manual because reliable data is seen as the first step to exploring policy options and taking action to reduce prices and improve availability

E-bulletin