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. 2024 Nov 15;14(1):92.
doi: 10.1186/s13561-024-00574-8.

Regulation of mark-up on medicine prices in Zimbabwe: a pilot survey from 92 community pharmacies in the metropolitan area of Harare

Hilma N Nakambale  1   2 , Penelope Tambama  3 , Varsha Bangalee  3
Affiliations

Regulation of mark-up on medicine prices in Zimbabwe: a pilot survey from 92 community pharmacies in the metropolitan area of Harare

Hilma N Nakambale et al. Health Econ Rev. .

Abstract

Background: Medicine pricing in the community pharmacy sector in Zimbabwe significantly influences accessibility to health care. In this pilot survey, we investigated how community pharmacies in Zimbabwe apply various mark-up strategies to essential and non-essential medicines, and gathered community pharmacists' perspectives on mark-up regulation.

Methods: Using an adapted methodology endorsed by the World Health Organization and Health Action International for studying medicine prices and availability, we conducted a quantitative cross-sectional pilot survey for 46 medicines (31 essential and 15 non-essential) identified using the Zimbabwe Essential Medicines List and classified according to the Vital, Essential, and Non-essential (VEN) tool. We conducted the pilot survey in 92 community pharmacies in the metropolitan area of Harare, Zimbabwe.

Results: We gathered a total of 92 responses from 167 distributed questionnaires. The most prevalent mark-up strategy was the cost-plus fixed percentage.The median mark-up for all medicines in the community pharmacies was 60% (interquartile range 50- 82%). We found a statistically significant difference in the median mark-up by essentiality of medicines (p < 0.001), essential medicines had a median mark-up price of 62% while non-essential medicines had a mark-up of 56%. Antipsychotics had the highest mark-up at 82%, while anti-neoplastic medicine had the lowest at 36%. Overall, 55% of the community pharmacists did not support mark-up regulation.

Conclusion: Mark-up strategies varied across community pharmacies in the metropolitan area of Harare. Without mark-up regulation, essential medicines remain significantly expensive in Zimbabwe. We recommend mark-up regulation in Zimbabwe's community pharmacy sector and emphasize the effective use of multiple pricing strategies to reduce medicine prices. .

Keywords: Affordability; Essential medicine; Mark-up; Pricing regulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate This study was approved and authorized by the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe (MRCZ), reference number: MRCZ/B/2068. Informed consent was obtained from the participants and the confidentiality of the participants was assured. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.

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