Spain's 2005 Rx growth restricted to 5.5%

Spain's drug bill rose 5.5% to 10.0 billion euros ($12.12 billion) in 2005, marking the second successive year of falling growth, which the government attributed to its reference-price cuts and generics promotion campaigns, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Rx expenditures leapt 11% in 2004 and 12.5% in 2003, suggesting that the Spanish government's health policies are succeeding in curbing the country's once-alarming public health costs. Average prescription prices inched up 0.69% to 13.15 euros, while the number of paid prescrip-tions rose 4.9% to 764.6 million, according to figures released by the Ministry.

Andalusia is Spain's major Rx consumer