The medication status and trends of the 47 hospitals in Shanghai from 1999 to 2001 indicate that tuberculosis remains the most common disease. According to the latest national classification of tuberculosis, it is divided into five types: primary tuberculosis, hematogenous disseminated tuberculosis, secondary pulmonary tuberculosis, tuberculous pleurisy, and extrapulmonary tuberculosis which includes phalanx tuberculosis, intestinal tuberculosis, and tuberculous meningitis. The World Health Organization reports that nearly 2 billion people worldwide are infected with tuberculosis annually, with an increase of 800 million new cases, 95% of which are in developing countries. Annually, three million people die from tuberculosis. China is a high TB endemic area, characterized by high prevalence, high mortality, high resistance rates, and a low annual decline rate. There are approximately six million existing TB cases in China, with at least 1.5 million new cases each year. Each source of infection can lead to the infection of 10-15 people, resulting in about 250,000 deaths annually, making it the largest source of bacterial infection-related deaths.
Drug treatment is the primary means of controlling tuberculosis. How to better treat and prevent TB has been a focal point of attention. A survey was conducted on the use of anti-TB drugs in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Chongqing cities in 1999 and 2001 to analyze the market conditions and trends of anti-TB drugs.
Materials and Methods:
Data were collected from 138 hospitals in six cities (Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing) and reported to the Shanghai Drug Administration Science and Technology Information Institute regarding the purchase of anti-TB drugs. Among the 138 hospitals, there were 72 tertiary hospitals, 52 secondary hospitals, and 14 primary hospitals. The total number of beds in these hospitals was 72,334, averaging 524 beds per hospital. The drug data included the name of the medicine, specifications, packaging, wholesale price, quantity, and production enterprises.
Statistical Methods:
The amount of antituberculosis drugs used per bed in 1999 and 2001 in the 138 hospitals across the six cities was analyzed. The market share of anti-TB drug manufacturing enterprises, sales amounts, and proportions were sorted.
Results:
From 1999 to 2001, the purchasing amounts of anti-TB drugs by the 138 hospitals in the six cities are shown in Table 1 and Figure 1. The general statistical data on medication amounts are presented in Table 2, while the commodity statistics on medication amounts are in Table 3. The sales amounts and proportions of production enterprises in the market for anti-TB drugs are shown in Table 4. In terms of internal structure, the proportion of imported drugs and joint venture drugs remained stable, while the addition of domestic drugs to joint venture drugs saw a slight decline from 3% in previous years to 0.21% in 2001 compared to 2000. This indicates a relative increase in the use of domestic drugs over imported ones, stabilizing after years of stagnation due to reasons such as changes in outpatient medication practices in 2000 and the application of new technologies and treatments for high-risk patients in 2001.
Drug Trend Forecast:
In the above statistics, three major factors dominate more than 70% of the medication amounts in the three hospitals and the 47 hospitals in Shanghai. The author believes that the pharmaceutical market in Shanghai follows inherent development laws similar to international metropolises but will see continuous consolidation and further price correction. It is predicted that the total drug trend in 2002 will continue to grow, albeit at a potentially slower pace. The consumption amounts of imported drugs, joint venture drugs, and domestic drugs, as well as their proportions of the total amount, will be influenced by the continuing reform of state-owned pharmaceutical enterprises and policy controls and changes.