Pharmaceutical expenditure in the Puglia region continues to be above the national average standards, despite the economies of the last two years and the cure is called improvement in prescribing appropriateness. This is what the local press denounces, recalling that the cost of medicines distributed by pharmacies and paid for by the regional health system will have to align, starting this year, with the 11.35% of the health fund while for now it is 4 points above such a roof. In Puglia, a little less than 900 million euros gross is spent on territorial pharmaceutical assistance: net of the "discounts" and the co-payment paid by citizens (120 million euros) the figure reaches almost 730 million. Based on last year's spending review, spending will not be able to exceed the aforementioned ceiling of the regional health fund, and to achieve this goal it is necessary to start the prescription from general practitioners. Puglia, for example, after Campania, is the region with the highest incidence of antibiotics on expenditure: it is the fourth item in the ranking after cardiovascular drugs, those for the gastrointestinal system and those for the nervous system. The evaluations are the result of comparisons with data on the consumption of medicines in the various regions which show a propensity to spend more than necessary, compared for example in Emilia Romagna, where, on medicines, for a population in line with that of Puglia, about 200 million less is spent than Puglia.
7 May 2013 – Pharmacist33
