Barriers to access: availability and affordability of essential drugs in a retail outlet of a public health center in south western Ethiopia

Essential drugs (EDs) satisfy the priority health care needs of a population and their availability and affordability at all times is crucial for provision of complete health service. The study aimed to assess availability and affordability of treatment cost for common diseases in Jimma Health Center (JHC). A cross sectional study was conducted using structured data abstraction form for exit interviews and checklists. Only 128 (55.65%) EDs were available. The average price for commonly used drugs per recommended dose for an individual patient in JHC Pharmacy, Ethiopian Red Cross (ERC) Pharmacy and Private Pharmacies were $0.65, $0.62 and $0.94 respectively. Affordability of medications was significantly associated with age, marital status, occupational status, gross monthly income and number of economically dependent family members (p<0.005). 58.07% of the respondents bought drugs from JHC pharmacy, while the rest bought drugs from ERC pharmacy and private retail outlets. In this study 47.83%, 33.54% and 18.63% of the respondents said that the drugs are not affordable, fairly affordable and affordable respectively. Low availability of EDs forced patients to purchase drugs from private pharmacies, go to informal sector or forgo treatment. Considering proportion of total household income spent on health care, costs of treatment seem unaffordable.