The price of medicines sold to hospitals in Brazil had a monthly high of 1.32% in June this year.
The result was above the preview of the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), of 0.67% and the monthly price variation of the Brazilian economy, measured by the General Price Index – Market (IGP-M) of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. (FGV), which was 0.59%.
The data are from the Hospital Medicines Price Index (IPM-H), an indicator developed by the Economic Research Institute Foundation (Fipe) in conjunction with Bionexo, a digital solutions company for health management.
From January to May 2022, the index ends the first half of this year with an accumulated increase of 6.23%, a result higher than the consumer inflation accumulated by the IPCA/IBGE (+5.49%), but lower than the behavior of prices measured by the IGP-M/FGV (+8.16%), informed the foundation.
The biggest price increases in June in the groups of medicines considered in the composition of the index basket were in blood and hematopoietic organs (+8.74%); respiratory apparatus (+7.26%); genitourinary system (+6.87%); digestive system and metabolism (+3.05%); nervous system (+2.63%); hormonal preparations (+1.24%) and cardiovascular system (+0.07%).
On the other hand, the following groups showed a monthly drop in prices: sensory organs (-2.09%); general anti-infectives for systemic use (-1.67%); immunotherapics, vaccines and antiallergic drugs (-0.85%); musculoskeletal system (-0.71%) and antineoplastic agents (-0.63%).
According to Bruno Oliva, economist at Fipe, the variation in drug prices in recent years tells a little about the history of Covid in the country.
“When we look at the evolution of the index, we notice that it walked more or less in line with the IPCA from 2015 to the beginning of 2020. But, from then on, we had a spike in drug prices, precisely because of the increase in demand for medicines associated with the care of patients with covid. When we look at it in a disaggregated way, in fact it was exactly the drugs used in relation to the care of patients with Covid-19 that had the highest increases”, he explained, noting that the June result did not differ much from the price indices.
Oliva also explains that, after the first wave of Covid, there was a drop in the prices of medicines sold to hospitals.
“With the decrease in cases, prices dropped a little at the end of 2020, following the reduction of pressure on hospitals, remaining relatively well behaved until the second wave, when a new significant rise occurs. In the last quarter of 2021, a natural behavior was already observed. Not a very strong increase, but an expected increase, because prices generally increase in line with the behavior of the IPCA”, he added.
annual variation
In the last 12 months, a drop of 1.85% in the IPM-H was pointed out, resulting well below the highs observed in this period of the IPCA (+11.89%) and the IGP-M (+10.70%). .
According to Fipe, this negative result of the index “results from the variations observed in the following therapeutic groups: general anti-infectives for systemic use (-22.96%); cardiovascular system (-20.69%); musculoskeletal system (-19.25%); digestive system and metabolism (-13.55%); and nervous system (-12.07%)”.
The groups that showed price increases in the last 12 months include: genitourinary system (+34.71%); blood and hematopoietic organs (+25.23%); respiratory apparatus (+18.04%); immunotherapics, vaccines and antiallergic; (+13.32%); hormonal preparations (+2.27%); antineoplastic agents (+2.24%); and sensory organs (+0.96%).
Fipe points out that, although they may be correlated, the result of the IPM-H “does not measure the behavior of drug prices in pharmacies, that is, prices to the final consumer (retail segment)”. In addition, it is also not a measure of variation in the costs of hospitals and/or health plans, “which also involve expenses with equipment, procedures, materials, human resources, treatment/care protocols and according to frequency of use”.
Source: CNN Brasil
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