Almost one prescription per citizen (0.86) for a total of 52 million and 93 million packages of medicines dispensed in a month: thus the data relating to January 2008, the first of 2008 "certified" by Federfarma, the association of private pharmacies. The increase, compared to January 2007, is +8% in the number of recipes, confirming a trend of recent years, and +7% in terms of packs. In fact, however, spending on the Health Service recorded only +0.9%, again compared to January 2007, "reaching over 1,062 million euros, equal to 18.09 scun citizens". The Federfarma analysis explains the differences between the increase in prescriptions and expenditure as the «effect of interventions on the prices of medicines», in particular, «of the growing impact of the reference price for equivalent medicines and of the measures applied at the regional level. Among the latter, the extension in various Regions of the reference reimbursement for proton pump inhibitors (but they can no longer be introduced); the reintroduction (Abruzzo and Campania) or the increase (Sicily) of the ticket during 2007; the direct distribution or through pharmacies of medicines purchased by the local health authorities; the limitation of the prescription to one pack per prescription (in Calabria)". • La Repubblica Salute of 22/05/2008 N. 581 – 22 MAY 2008 p. 30
