Integration of Community pharmacy and pharmacists in primary health care policies in Argentina

UEMA SAN

Pharmacy Practice

Centro de Investigaciones y Publicaciones Farmacéuticas, S.L.

Año: 2020

rgentina is a federal republic with approximately 44 million people, divided into 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The health system is segmented into public, social security and private subsystems. The social security and private sectors cover more than 60% of the population. Total health expenditure in 2017 was 9.4% of gross domestic product. Primary health care (PHC) was considered as the principal strategy for universal coverage policy for health system reform in Latin America at the end of 20th century. The most remarkable characteristics of the Argentinian health system are its fragmentation and disorganization. An increase of public sector demands, due to a socioeconomic crisis, led to the subsequent collapse of the system, caused primarily by a sustained lack of investment. First care level decentralization to the Integral Health Service Delivery Networks (IHSDN) become the cornerstones of a PHC-based system. Pharmacists and community pharmacies are not forma