[Ip-health] Which Country Spends The Most On Meds?

[Judit Rius Sanjuan]

http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/11/which-country-spends-the-most-on-meds/

Which Country Spends The Most On Meds?
By Ed Silverman // November 13th, 2008

A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development finds that the average OECD country spent $401 - measured
in purchasing power parities, or PPPs - per person in 2005, and half
of OECD countries had per capita spending within 20 percent of the
average. Not surprisingly, the US had the highest level of per capita
expenditure, at $792 PPP, and Mexico the lowest, at $144 just 18
percent of the US amount (chart)

Pharmaceutical expenditures - in common with healthcare spending
overall - continue to outstrip the average growth of OECD economies,
according to the OECD=92s Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy report. The
pharmaceutical sector accounts for about one-fifth of health spending,
on average, in OECD countries, and nine OECD countries account for
more than 80 percent of global sales of the pharmaceutical industry,
with the US alone accounting for 45 percent.

France and Spain had the greatest volume of consumption per person in
2005, followed by the US and Australia. All of these countries had
below-average retail price levels in 2005, except the US, which had
retail prices about 30 percent above the OECD average. Differences in
prices reflect more than different prices charged by drugmakers, such
as distribution costs and in many countries - value-added tax, which
can account from a small share to more than half of the price paid.

Although pharmaceutical growth has slowed since the 1990s while other
health expenditures have increased more rapidly in recent years,
growth in pharmaceutical expenditures continues to exceed the average
growth of OECD economies. Nevertheless, the pharmaceutical sector
accounts for a minor share of total health expenditure in most OECD
countries - the average is 17 percent.

The OECD study is available here: http://www.oecd.org/document/57/0,3343,en=
_2649_37407_35715449_1_1_1_1,00.html

The executive summary here: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/36/2/41303903.pdf


Judit Rius Sanjuan
Attorney
Knowledge Ecology International / Essential Information
www.keionline.org / www.cptech.org
Phone: +1.212.763.5720 (Only for October/November 2008)