Pharmaceutical inventory control in Sudan central and hospital stores using ABC-VEN analysis

Abstract

Introduction Many countries are facing large increases in their expenditures on pharmaceuticals, a matter that causes concern for policy-makers worldwide. In many countries, especially the low-income country, the high proportion of medicines spending that is paid for out of pocket by individuals, creates a huge financial burden on patients and presents an additional problem for policy-makers. In order to develop effective policies aimed at securing universal access to essential medicines requires a comprehensive understanding of a country's current expenditures on pharmaceuticals in relation to its level of income and other expenditures The data on total pharmaceutical expenditures are lacking for many low-income countries; it is evident that collectively high-income countries spend a great deal more on medicines than the less wealthy countries. In 2006, high-income countries accounted for 78.5% of global pharmaceutical expenditures, while the upper middle-income, the lower middle-income and the low-income countries combined accounted for the remaining 21.5% of the total (10.2%, 10.3% and 1.0%, respectively). In world's total expenditures on pharmaceuticals, leaving the poorest 71% of the population distributed among 78 low-middle-and low-income countries with an 11% share of the world's medicines expenditure [1]. Abstract Background: Effective drug supply management ensures uninterrupted availability of quality approved, safe and effective pharmaceuticals. This could be achieved through proper selection, quantification, procurement, distribution and use of drugs based on consumption and morbidity pattern of the catchment area by using a system like ABC-VEN analysis. ABC/VEN analysis used for the investigation represents the simple and effective method of analysis of medicine expenditures, identifying priority groups of medicines, the use of which, when improved, may provide the greatest clinical and economic impact.