Risk Management and Healthcare Policy (Nov 2019)
Policy Analysis Of Iranian Pharmaceutical Sector; A Qualitative Study
Abstract
Farbod Ebadi Fardazar,1 Ali Sarabi Asiabar,2 Hossein Safari,1 Mojgan Asgari,3 Ali Saber,4 Amir Ali Ebadi Fard Azar5 1School of Public Health, Health Promotion Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Department of ENT, Amir Alam Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 4Department of Medical Ethics, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran; 5School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranCorrespondence: Hossein SafariHemmat Highway, School of Public Health, Health Promotion Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranTel +989191846252Fax +9804134449152Email [email protected]: Improving public health through providing affordable and accessible pharmaceuticals is among the concerns of governments worldwide. This study aimed to analyze Iran’s pharmaceutical sector policies in order to identify the challenges and suggest some strategic solutions to overcome such challenges.Methods: Top managers (15), middle managers (10), and operational managers (5) working in the Food and Drug Administration of Iranian Ministry of Health along with community pharmacists (5) participated in a qualitative study using semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data were recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed via MAXQDA 10 software.Results: Policies for national pharmaceutical sector were divided into four groups of “research & development”, “import & export”, “pharmaceutical procurement”, and “pharmaceutical supply and distribution”. Then, the challenges faced by each sector were extracted. Considering the challenges, some policy options were recommended for growth and development of national pharmaceutical sector.Conclusion: Iran’s pharmaceutical sector has managerial and administrative differences compared with overseas pharmaceutical sectors. These differences are the main reasons for the current status of Iran’s pharmaceutical sector and have put Iran behind foreign pharmaceutical sectors. Iran’s pharmaceutical sector has endured many critical periods during recent decades and has gained great experience during these stages. Therefore, it is believed that Iran’s pharmaceutical sector, with its experience and potential, is capable of producing world-level medicines.Keywords: pharmaceutical policy-making, research & development, qualitative study, supportive policy, Iran
