Drug Shortages in Southwestern China: A Regional DataBased Cross-Sectional Analysis

Le résumé fourni par la source

Drug shortages have posed clinical and economic challenges to healthcare systems globally. Multiple data-based evidence on drug shortages in China is limited. This study aimed to depict drug shortage and cause of shortage in Southwest China and it was a cross-sectional study. Data was extracted from the multi-source drug shortage reporting system of Sichuan Province from 1st January, 2018 to 30th May 2021. The policy characteristics, dosage forms, shortage frequency, anatomical therapeutic chemical classification and cause for the drug shortage was analysed. There were 2184 reported drug shortages involving 870 drugs. Among the drugs, 631 (72.53 %) were chemical drugs. Injections had the highest average shortage frequency of 4.35, while 59.54 % (518/870) of the drugs in shortage was oral. All anatomical therapeutic chemical classification of drugs had been reported in shortage. The number of drugs for alimentary tract and metabolism was up to 117. As for policy characteristics, 44.48 % (387/870) and 79.54 % (692/870) fell into the national essential medicines list and national medical insurance drug list respectively. The incidence of drug shortage on the emergency drug list and national essential medicines list was significantly higher than that of the paediatric generic drug list and national medical insurance drug list (p<0.05). Manufacturing problems was the main causes of drug shortage (46.10 %, 891/1998). A plethora of drugs experienced a shortage in Southwest China, encompassing nearly the entirety of the anatomical therapeutic chemical classification system. Drug shortage affected the entire drug supply chain, including production, delivery and utilization. To address this issue, it was imperative to foster enhanced collaboration among all stakeholders to mitigate and resolve the drug shortage problem.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.