Access to Medicines Policy Research - Uganda
Access to and Use of Medicines to Treat Chronic Diseases in Low and Middle Income Countries: Analysis of Baseline MeTA - WHO Household Surveys
The rapid increase in the burden of chronic diseases poses a major threat to existing health systems in low-resource settings. Cardiovascular disease and related conditions like diabetes and hypertension are leading causes of death globally, with 80% of these deaths occurring in low-and middle-income countries. Treatment of chronic illness will have an increasingly significant impact not only on household budgets, but also on the structure and financing of health services due to higher demand and utilization, placing additional strain on health systems that are already overwhelmed and under-resourced.
There is a lack of information on the prevalence of chronic diseases and their treatment in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, little is known about how socioeconomic status, behavioural factors, and community perceptions about quality of care influence care seeking for and treatment of chronic diseases in these resource constrained settings.
The objectives of this study are to investigate how chronic diseases are reported and treated at the household level in low- and middle-income countries. The study will use de-identified data from Gambia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, Philippines, and Uganda household surveys that were conducted between 2007 and 2010 to evaluate access to and use of medicines. The Gambia, Kenya and Nigeria surveys were supported by World Health Organization (WHO), while the other surveys were collaborations between countries, WHO and the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) a multi-stakeholders initiative supported by the Department for International Development (DFID, United Kingdom).
Without such data, it is difficult to design, implement and monitor potential solutions to curb the growing chronic disease burden in LMICs. The evidence from this study could become strongly influential on LMIC policy-makers.
Project description
Programme: Access to Medicines Policy Research
Research title: Access to and Use of Medicines to Treat Chronic Diseases in Low and Middle Income Countries: Analysis of Baseline MeTA - WHO Household Surveys
Thematic Research Area: Access to Medicines
Grantee Country: Uganda
Grantee Institution: Harvard Medical School
Program Coordinator/Principle Investigator: Mr Brian Serumaga
Start date: Autumn/Winter 2010
Status of grant: Completed (June 2011)