Drugs and money. Prices, affordability and cost containment

Society attaches great importance to better health, and has witnessed a rising demand for health care. The rapid growth of expenditure on medicines is of particular concern and it has attracted considerable political attention, partly because it seems most amenable to economic control.

The World Health Organization first launched a study on 'Drugs and Money' in 1983, on the feasibility of measures to control the growth of expenditure on medicines. This culminated in a critical overview of the effectiveness of older cost-containment schemes while also paying attention to innovative ventures. The report was widely used and repeatedly updated, and this is now its seventh edition.

This latest edition provides policy-makers and regulators with a compact and practical review of the various approaches used to contain the costs of pharmaceutical services and drug treatment. The true art of good housekeeping in this field is clearly to ensure that drugs continue to benefit society, while eliminating every form of waste of public funds. This book also addresses issues of the organization, standards and delivery of health care. Unlike earlier editions of Drugs and money, this volume also devotes considerable attention to the special problems of developing countries and those where the economy is currently in transition.