Abstract
Pharmacies are important sites for accessing medication use, promoting rational use of medicines and educating the community. The study aimed to investigate the retail market of drugs in pharmacies and drugstores in the Brazilian Federal District and to better understand about this scenario evaluated some aspects and used indicators. Information was extracted from the database of the Regional Pharmacy Board of the FD covering the period from 2000 to 2012. The numbers of drugstores and compounding pharmacies increased by 353.72% and 138%, respectively, during the period and most have opened than closed. The drugstore per capita ratio, which was 1/8,044 in 2000, is now 1/2,680 in 2010. Moreover, these facilities are now concentrated in areas with higher incomes and greater economic activity. In 2012, 32.5% of drugstores and 79% of compounding pharmacies were identified as belonging to pharmacists, and only the minority of the establishments was registered as a pharmacy chain. The main violations of pharmaceutical establishments detected by the Board were the absence or lack of a pharmacist and lack of legal registration. It was concluded that there was a great expansion of the pharmaceutical retail market in the Federal District of Brazil. Increasing in the number of establishment was higher than the population growth and the data suggest that the concentration of properties is related to the population purchasing power.
Highlights
The availability and rational use of drugs are critical elements for the health of the general population
Given the sanitary and economic relevance of pharmaceutical establishments in Brazil, this study aimed to investigate the retail market of drugs in pharmacies and drugstores in the Federal District (FD) of Brazil and to better understand about this scenario evaluated some aspects and used indicators
It can be inferred that the results found in the Federal District are similar throughout Brazil because the rules and regulations for the pharmaceutical market and pharmacies have national effect
Summary
The availability and rational use of drugs are critical elements for the health of the general population. Access to essential medications is important for the effectiveness of actions to promote health, and their rational use should follow a prescription grounded in scientific and ethical criteria, timely availability, guided dispensing and informed use [1]. The sanitary and economic outcomes due to the irrational use of medicines are relevant, including the increased incidence of adverse drug reactions, increased hospital admissions and increased multi-drug-resistant bacteria, among others. These factors can lead to increased individual and collective costs associated with health care, increased hospital-acquired infections, the prolongation and worsening of disease, unnecessary suffering, death, maintenance of the disease transmission chain and decreased credibility of health services [1,3]
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