- Title
- Assessing evidence of inequalities in access to medication for diabetic populations in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review
- Creator
- Christiani, Yodi; Dhippayom, Teerapon; Chaiyakunapruk, Nathorn
- Relation
- Global Health Action Vol. 9, Issue 1
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/gha.v9.32505
- Publisher
- Co-Action Publishing
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2016
- Description
- Background: Inequalities in access to medications among people diagnosed with diabetes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is a public health concern since untreated diabetes can lead to severe complications and premature death. Objective: To assess evidence of inequalities in access to medication for diabetes in adult populations of people with diagnosed diabetes in LMICs. Design: We conducted a systematic review of the literature using the PRISMA-Equity guidelines. A search of five databases - PubMed, Cochrane, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EMBASE - was conducted from inception to November 2015. Using deductive content analysis, information extracted from the selected articles was analysed according to the PRISMA-Equity guidelines, based on exposure variables (place of residence, race/ethnicity, occupation, gender, religion, education, socio-economic status, social capital, and others). Results: Fifteen articles (seven quantitative and eight qualitative studies) are included in this review. There were inconsistent findings between studies conducted in different countries and regions although financial and geographic barriers generally contributed to inequalities in access to diabetes medications. The poor, those with relatively low education, and people living in remote areas had less access to diabetes medications. Furthermore, we found that the level of government political commitment through primary health care and in the provision of essential medicines was an important factor in promoting access to medications. Conclusions: The review indicates that inequalities exist in accessing medication among diabetic populations, although this was not evident in all LMICs. Further research is needed to assess the social determinants of health and medication access for people with diabetes in LMICs.
- Subject
- access to medication; diabetes; inequalities; low- and middle-income countries; progress
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1339624
- Identifier
- uon:28299
- Identifier
- ISSN:1654-9880
- Rights
- Global Health Action 2016. © 2016 Yodi Christiani et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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