Why this Guide?

The International Medical Products Price Guide provides exactly what the name implies — a guide to medical product prices on the international market.

MSH, in collaboration with WHO, is working with partners to make existing medical product price information more widely available in order to improve procurement of medicines of assured quality for the lowest possible price. This will contribute to equitable access to health services and commodities, including essential medicines, necessary for the prevention and treatment of prevalent diseases.

Prices and financing are inescapable factors in determining access to essential medicines. Lower prices can be obtained through bulk purchasing, competition, skillful negotiation, and sound supply management. Comparative price information may help in price negotiations, in locating new supply sources, and in assessing the efficiency of local procurement systems.

The International Medical Products Price Guide primarily focuses on essential medicines, but includes other products as well. Items from the WHO Essential Medicines Lists are always included. Vaccines, immunologic agents, disinfectants, fluids and electrolytes, and diagnostic tests and agents are also typically covered. Increasingly, medicines required for cancer treatment and chronic disease care, and strengths and dosage forms required for pediatric care are being added to the database. New products are added to the Guide each year, as the information reported to us changes.

The medical product price information is maintained by the Pharmaceuticals and Health Technologies Group of Management Sciences for Health, a nonprofit institution, as a contribution towards making essential medical products available to all the world’s citizens. It may be copied freely for in-service education or other nonprofit use.

Additional information on medicines pricing and financing can be found at the WHO site: http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/access. The site includes information on pricing policies and sources of medicines price information from agencies, regional databases and national ministries of health.

For more information, comments, or suggestions on the format or the contents, please contact us:

Management Sciences for Health
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Arlington, VA 22203 USA

Phone: +1.703.524.6575
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URL: http://www.msh.org