Italian drug spending falls to 193.76 euros pc

Drug spending in the Italian national health service fell by 1% to 11.8 billion euros ($14.86 billion) in 2008 or 193.76 per capita of  population. Figures from the pharmacy federation, Federfarma, indicate  that against the downturn in spending, the number of scripts rose by  5.5% over the previous year to over 55 million or 9.4 a head.

Expenditure on pharmaceuticals jumped by 5.6% in the month of December,  with an 11.5% rise in prescription volume as a flu epidemic gripped the  country, together with the effect of an extra day in the month.  Federfarma says the decline in spending is due to a reduction in the  average value of a prescription - down by about 6.1% - as well as to the  prescribing of lower-priced drugs. The average value per script was  12.58 euros last year compared with 13.12 euros in 2007. This continued  decline in the value of prescriptions reflects official pricing policy  since 2006 and the growing influence of reference prices in drug  substitution.