The drugs prescribed by general practitioners are 50% more than the Italian average
Healthcare in Calabria, under observation by the Ministry of Health due to recent news events that have seen the Vibo Valentia hospital in the eye of the storm, is also distinguished by another aspect: the number of prescriptions per year, paid by the Health Service, is 50% more than the national average. According to Federfarma, between the months of January and October 2007 there were 9.47 recipes per capita. Situation confirmed by the Assr, the Agency for regional health services, which in its report dated June last year reports the number of prescriptions per capita per month of 1.02, against 0.8 of those which are also the most active in the field: Lazio and Umbria (0.86), Basilicata (0.81), Liguria and Abruzzo (0.80). Not enough, Calabria also has the unenviable primacy in spending which, in June 2007, was 21.4 euros per capita compared to a national average of 16.2 euros. And if the total expenditure, between the months of January and June 2007, for Lombardy, which has almost four times as many residents (9 million 465,202 compared to 2 million 400,415) was 33 million 992,272 euros, for the Calabria Region it been calculated at 11 million 393,669 euros. Aifa, the Italian Medicines Agency, reports that in the first 9 months of 2007 the gross public expenditure on class A medicines paid by the NHS decreased by 7.7% compared to the same period of the previous year. The result is due to the various measures to contain pharmaceutical expenditure within the limits set by law, implemented at national and regional level. The expenditure borne by citizens, on the other hand, increased by 4.3% due to the consistent growth in the private purchase of class A drugs (up 28% compared to 2006). The trend of increasing drug consumption paid by the NHS remains constant: in fact, in the first 9 months of 2007, 879.6 doses were prescribed for every thousand inhabitants compared to 857 in 2006. The trend in pharmaceutical expenditure was influenced by the fact that during 2007, the legislation of the Finance Act was applied which had provided for companies to ask AIFA, as an alternative to the reduction in the price of the 5% of medicines, the possibility of a cash payment to the Regions (pay back) of the relative economic value. What are the most requested medicinal specialties? Aifa and Federfarma confirm: products for the cardiovascular system continue to represent the most prescribed category, in particular the demand for drugs for hypertension and heart failure continues to grow. And if we consider the top 30 active ingredients by purchase or by consumption, as many as 18 belong to the class of drugs for the cardiovascular system. The whole category represents 38% of the annual expense and 49% of the prescribed doses. A moderate increase also concerns the prescription of products for gastrointestinal (+4.3%) and blood (+3.0%) pathologies. The use of generic medicines also increased, registering an increase of 24.1% and representing approximately 30% of total consumption in terms of daily doses (18.7% of expenditure). In 2007, in fact, several molecules lost their patents which significantly changed the scenario of equivalent drugs. For self-medication products, an increase was observed in all Regions, with the exception of Marche (-3.2%) and Emilia Romagna (-1.2%); the greatest increase occurred in Valle d'Aosta (+5.7%) and in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (+4.8%). Finally, speaking of recipes, the Ministry of Health recalls that on 1 January the law that provides for the stamping of the patient's tax code on the tax receipt for the purchase came into force
