Lists of medicines available in the public health system in England and Brazil to address the burden of disease

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the lists of medicines offered by the England (National Health Service -NHS) and Brazilian (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS) health systems. The analysis was performed using the chemical subgroup (4th level) of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification (ATC), focusing on the main causes of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) found in the 2019 Global Disease Burden study for both countries: cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and mental disorders. The comparison between the Drug Tariff of March 2020 (England) and the Relação Nacional de Medicamentos Essenciais (Rename) 2020 (Brazil) showed that the former contains 3,620 pharmaceutical presentations and Rename, 921, with 3,158 and 796 being monodrugs, respectively. Drug Tariff has 3.9 times more pharmaceutical presentations than Rename and 2 times more active substances in monodrugs than Rename. Rename and Drug Tariff have 281 active chemicals in common, considering the 5th level of the ATC. The list of medicines financed by the NHS is broader than that of Brazil, both for diseases in general and for diseases prevalent in both countries, which may constitute a possibility of improvement for Rename, keeping the need for more studies in-depth on the topic.

Keywords:
Pharmaceutical Services; National Formulary; National Medicines Policy; National Public Health Systems; England; Brazil