Revista de Saúde Pública (Nov 2017)

Management of pharmaceutical services in the Brazilian primary health care

  • Letícia Farias Gerlack,
  • Margô Gomes de Oliveira Karnikowski,
  • Camila Alves Areda,
  • Dayani Galato,
  • Aline Gomes de Oliveira,
  • Juliana Álvares,
  • Silvana Nair Leite,
  • Ediná Alves Costa,
  • Ione Aquemi Guibu,
  • Orlando Mario Soeiro,
  • Karen Sarmento Costa,
  • Augusto Afonso Guerra Junior,
  • Francisco de Assis Acurcio

DOI
https://doi.org/10.11606/s1518-8787.2017051007063
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 51, no. suppl 2

Abstract

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ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To identify limiting factors in the management of pharmaceutical services in the primary health care provided by the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). METHODS This study was based on the data from the Pesquisa Nacional sobre Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos no Brasil (PNAUM – National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines), and it was conducted by interviews with professionals responsible for pharmaceutical services in Brazilian cities, in 2015. To identify the management limiting factors, we considered the organizational, operational, and sustainability indicators of the management. For the analyses, we included the weights and structure of analysis plan for complex samples. The results were expressed by frequencies and measures of central tendency with 95% confidence interval, considering the Brazilian geographic regions. RESULTS We identified the following limiting factors: lack of pharmaceutical services in the Municipal Health Secretariat organization chart (24%) and in the health plan (18%); lack of participation of managers in the Health Board and the absence of reference to this topic in the agenda of meetings (58.4%); lack of financial autonomy (61.5%) and lack of knowledge on the available values (81.7%); lack of adoption of operational procedures (about 50%) for selection, scheduling, and acquisition; and the fact that most professionals evaluate the organization of pharmaceutical services as good and great (58.8%), despite the worrisome indicators. CONCLUSIONS Pharmaceutical services management is currently supported by a legal and political framework that should guide and contribute to improve the pharmaceutical services in the Brazilian Unified Health System primary health care. However, there is a mismatch between the goals established by these guidelines and what is actually happening.

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