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Insulin Availability and Affordability in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar

Received: 13 December 2020     Accepted: 21 December 2020     Published: 12 January 2021
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Abstract

Background: Insulin is classified as an "essential drug". It should be available in all pharmacies at an affordable price. This remains a major problem in low income countries like ours. Aim: Our study aims to describe the insulin availability and affordability in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Methods: It was a cross sectional study over a period of 3 months at all pharmacies existing in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo. Insulin availability was assessed according to the classification of the World Health Organization. Affordability was assessed from the ratio between the monthly cost of insulin treatment and the Malagasy monthly health expenditure, and the ratio between the monthly cost of insulin treatment and the guaranteed minimum inter-professional wage in Madagascar. Result: We had retained 79 pharmacies. Insulin availability in private pharmacies was higher than in public hospital pharmacies. Human insulin had a high availability rate: short-acting (70.89%) and mixed (78.08%). Availability of analogue insulin was low: fast-acting (7.59%) and long-acting (34.18%). To buy insulin, a patient was spending monthly 18.75 to 236.24% of the equivalent of guaranteed minimum inter-professional wage. All pharmacies had refrigerators to store insulin. Conclusion: The availability of insulin in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo was high while diabetic patients have low financial affordability. A good governance health policy and multisectoral actions would be necessary.

Published in International Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology (Volume 6, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11
Page(s) 1-4
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Affordability, Availability, Insulin, Madagascar

References
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[3] Raherison RE, Ramilitiana B, Raharinavalona SA, Rakotomalala DP. New diabetics seen in Joseph Raseta Befelatanana Hospital of Antananarivo (2002-2003). Rev. méd. Madag. 2015; 5 (1): 526–30.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sitraka Angelo Raharinavalona, Rija Eric Raherison, Thierry Razanamparany, Solofo Andrianarivelo Ralamboson, Hanta Marie Danielle Vololontiana, et al. (2021). Insulin Availability and Affordability in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar. International Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology, 6(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11

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    ACS Style

    Sitraka Angelo Raharinavalona; Rija Eric Raherison; Thierry Razanamparany; Solofo Andrianarivelo Ralamboson; Hanta Marie Danielle Vololontiana, et al. Insulin Availability and Affordability in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Int. J. Diabetes Endocrinol. 2021, 6(1), 1-4. doi: 10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11

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    AMA Style

    Sitraka Angelo Raharinavalona, Rija Eric Raherison, Thierry Razanamparany, Solofo Andrianarivelo Ralamboson, Hanta Marie Danielle Vololontiana, et al. Insulin Availability and Affordability in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Int J Diabetes Endocrinol. 2021;6(1):1-4. doi: 10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11,
      author = {Sitraka Angelo Raharinavalona and Rija Eric Raherison and Thierry Razanamparany and Solofo Andrianarivelo Ralamboson and Hanta Marie Danielle Vololontiana and Andrinirina Dave Patrick Rakotomalala},
      title = {Insulin Availability and Affordability in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar},
      journal = {International Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology},
      volume = {6},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-4},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijde.20210601.11},
      abstract = {Background: Insulin is classified as an "essential drug". It should be available in all pharmacies at an affordable price. This remains a major problem in low income countries like ours. Aim: Our study aims to describe the insulin availability and affordability in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Methods: It was a cross sectional study over a period of 3 months at all pharmacies existing in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo. Insulin availability was assessed according to the classification of the World Health Organization. Affordability was assessed from the ratio between the monthly cost of insulin treatment and the Malagasy monthly health expenditure, and the ratio between the monthly cost of insulin treatment and the guaranteed minimum inter-professional wage in Madagascar. Result: We had retained 79 pharmacies. Insulin availability in private pharmacies was higher than in public hospital pharmacies. Human insulin had a high availability rate: short-acting (70.89%) and mixed (78.08%). Availability of analogue insulin was low: fast-acting (7.59%) and long-acting (34.18%). To buy insulin, a patient was spending monthly 18.75 to 236.24% of the equivalent of guaranteed minimum inter-professional wage. All pharmacies had refrigerators to store insulin. Conclusion: The availability of insulin in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo was high while diabetic patients have low financial affordability. A good governance health policy and multisectoral actions would be necessary.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Insulin Availability and Affordability in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar
    AU  - Sitraka Angelo Raharinavalona
    AU  - Rija Eric Raherison
    AU  - Thierry Razanamparany
    AU  - Solofo Andrianarivelo Ralamboson
    AU  - Hanta Marie Danielle Vololontiana
    AU  - Andrinirina Dave Patrick Rakotomalala
    Y1  - 2021/01/12
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11
    T2  - International Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology
    JF  - International Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology
    JO  - International Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology
    SP  - 1
    EP  - 4
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2640-1371
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijde.20210601.11
    AB  - Background: Insulin is classified as an "essential drug". It should be available in all pharmacies at an affordable price. This remains a major problem in low income countries like ours. Aim: Our study aims to describe the insulin availability and affordability in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Methods: It was a cross sectional study over a period of 3 months at all pharmacies existing in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo. Insulin availability was assessed according to the classification of the World Health Organization. Affordability was assessed from the ratio between the monthly cost of insulin treatment and the Malagasy monthly health expenditure, and the ratio between the monthly cost of insulin treatment and the guaranteed minimum inter-professional wage in Madagascar. Result: We had retained 79 pharmacies. Insulin availability in private pharmacies was higher than in public hospital pharmacies. Human insulin had a high availability rate: short-acting (70.89%) and mixed (78.08%). Availability of analogue insulin was low: fast-acting (7.59%) and long-acting (34.18%). To buy insulin, a patient was spending monthly 18.75 to 236.24% of the equivalent of guaranteed minimum inter-professional wage. All pharmacies had refrigerators to store insulin. Conclusion: The availability of insulin in the Urban Municipality of Antananarivo was high while diabetic patients have low financial affordability. A good governance health policy and multisectoral actions would be necessary.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar

  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar

  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar

  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar

  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar

  • Faculty of Medicine, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar

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