Brazil Ends Tax for Over 1000 Drugs

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed May 19 a decree that exempts over one thousand medications from tax, which will contribute for a reduction of approximately 11% on final drugstore prices.

The measure was announced in São Paulo by the Minister of Health, Humberto Costa. According to him, this is another initiative by the Brazilian government to increase population’s access to medications.


The exemption includes 60 types of drugs, among them, antidepressant, hypertension, birth control, diabetes, anti-inflammatory, and antiretroviral. Patients under treatment for Hepatitis B and C will also benefit from the measure.


In order to lower prices of medicine, Brazil has also plans to allow the sale of smaller amounts of medicine than the whole bottle.


The chief benefit foreseen by the government and sectors of society that support the fractionalized sale of medications proposed by the National Sanitary Protection Agency (Anvisa) is the cost savings to the population, which will be able to purchase the exact amount indicated in the prescription. 


Another potential benefit of fractionalized sales is to reduce the possibility of self-medication, a problem due mainly to leftover medicines.


The Anvisa estimates that 20% of medicines go to waste in Brazilian hospitals. Data from the Brazilian Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (Febrafarma) show that earnings in this sector amounted to US$ 7.7 billion (19.8 billion reais) last year.


That means that the country wastes around US$ 1.5 billion (4 billion reais) each year. The State alone, which buys 25% of all remedies that are sold, could save US$ 390 million (1 billion reais).


Remedies that come in the form of vials, ampoules, and pills, for example, can be fractionalized. To purchase a fractionalized remedy, consumers should present the doctor’s or dentist’s prescription, which will be returned stamped and signed by the pharmacist with a declaration that the medication was delivered. Fractionalized medicine should be accompanied by a set of directions for each patient.


ABr

Tags:

You May Also Like

Good Image Helps Brazil Put Seasoning at Arab Tables

Arab culinary is surrendering to Brazilian seasoning. The trading company Double Port, based in ...

Back in Fashion

Portuguese Adelino Moreira was good in broken-heart and love-gone-bad songs, the so-called música de ...

Brazil Calls Rio +20 Final Text Step Ahead and Accuses the Rich of Being Stingy

The Brazilian minister of Environment, Izabella Teixeira, came out in defense of the Rio ...

Brazil Concerned with Venezuela’s Restlessness But Not Too Much

Brazilian Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim, speaking in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum, ...

ILO Cites Brazil and China as Models in Reducing Child Labor

According to a report issued by the International Labor Organization, between 1992 and 2004 ...

Japan Pulls Out Welcome Mat from Under Brazilian Dekasseguis

Everything was going just as planned for the Hashimoto siblings in Japan. Sheila, 29, ...

Brazil, a Stone in Microsoft’s Shoes

Brazilian authorities have in several occasions praised the open-source operating system known as Linux. ...

Optimism Tide Raises Economy Ship in Brazil

Brazilian and Latin American markets advanced, due to strength on Wall Street, lower oil ...

Brazil’s Key Interest Rate Drops 0.50%. Still High at 15.75%.

Brazil’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) announced yesterday, May 31, that it had unanimously decided ...

Brazilian singer Emilinha Borba

Brazil Loses Emilinha, an Idol from the 1940s, Who Never Left the Limelight

Brazilian legendary singer from the 1940s and 1950s, Emilinha Borba, died Monday, September 3, ...