Global Access to Medicines: A Systematic Review of Affordability Barriers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract: Medications have been essential in everyday life as they are vital for preventing and managing both infectious and non-infectious illnesses. As per World Health Organization (WHO), medications have been classified into essential as well as non-essential categories. The WHO has released a catalogue of vital medications that must be consistently accessible in public health facilities. These medications should be secure, therapeutically effective, economical, and meet the healthcare requirements of the population by preventing, managing, treating, and alleviating any illness or condition. This study focuses on understanding affordability studies across the globe. An in-depth literature review is conducted including prominent journals as well as electronic databases using specific keywords like medications, cost, healthcare, WHO, and access. The assessment includes all English articles published worldwide between 2010 and 2023. PRISMA guidelines are applied to extract literature. The study includes full text papers that use the WHO/HAI methodology, Catastrophic method and Impoverishment method to assess affordability. This study highlights important areas where necessary steps can be taken to upgrade the accessibility of necessary drugs. The suggested guidelines aim to refine the affordability and availability of drugs and enforcing a policy that supports the use of generic medications by healthcare professionals. It is crucial to educate various population groups about the advantages of using generic drugs in order to make sure they are cost-effective. Encouraging the addition of model list of essential medicines as published by WHO to the reimbursed medications list, along with providing tax incentives for essential medications can help improve affordability. Keywords: Essential Medicines, Affordability, WHO, Public Health JEL Classification Number: I180