Availability, Prices and Affordability of Glaucoma Medicines among Private Pharmacies of Nampula City in Mozambique

Abstract

Introduction: Glaucoma is a group of chronically progressive disorders of the optic nerve and a worldwide leading cause of irreversible vision loss. Eye chronic diseases including glaucoma are major public health problems around the world, rapidly increasing with a growing and aging population. The treatment of chronic diseases lasts a lifetime. The purpose of this study is to assess the availability, prices and affordability of the medicines for glaucoma management in private pharmacies of Nampula City in Mozambique. Material and Methods: The standardized methodology designed by the World Health Organization and Health Action International was employed to conduct the study about the availability, price and affordability of glaucoma medicines in Nampula City from October to November 2021. Data were collected in 39 private pharmacies using a survey with fifteen glaucoma Medicines. Results: The Average of medicines availability was 46.6% (0.0% - 71.8%) with a mean of 8.86. The availability level demonstrated that 14 (93.3%) of all surveyed glaucoma medicines were very low and 1 (6.67%) was fairly high. Timolol was the most available medicine, found in 28 (71.8%) while apraclonidine, carteolol, levobunolol, carbachol, brinzolamide, bimatoprost, travoprost and unoprostone were not available. The medicine with the lowest price was latanoprost (2.84 USD) and the higher was acetazolamide (23.58 USD). None of the surveyed medicines were considered affordable. Conclusion: The majority of surveyed glaucoma medicines were not available and they were totally unaffordable against the defined thresholds. Policy strategy and technical options should be driven and implemented by the government to ensure the availability and affordability of glaucoma medicines at various levels of the Mozambican healthcare system.