TRENTO. Trentino does not have a low drug consumption (we are in the medium-high range of the national ranking), but thanks to a greater tendency to buy generics and biosimilars, spending is lower than the Italian average, both public and private . Then there is the curiosity regarding the type of medicine used: the people of Trentino are the smallest consumers in Italy of medicines for erectile dysfunction and dementia, while they are the highest consumers of anticoagulants.
The consumption of antibiotics is also high, both in children and among adults. The data comes from the latest national report on “Use of medicine in Italy” related to 2022. A thousand pages full of numbers and considerations that, nonetheless, allow us to have an overview of the situation in Trentino, both in terms of consumption and expenditure. Pharmaceutical expenditure. In total, 266 million dollars were spent on medicine in Trentino in 2022.
Of these, 76 concerns agreed expenses (drugs reimbursed by the national health service), 17 million class A drugs paid for by private individuals, 29 million self-medications and 116 million drugs used by public facilities. If we look at the number of people living, we see that the gross costs charged to the national health service are 115.3 euros per person, among the lowest in Italy and considerably lower than the national average (165.8).
The same thing with regard to the private purchase of class C drugs which is 138 euros per person. In this case, compared to the previous year, there was a substantial increase (+37.4%) but we still remain below the national average and the bottom of the northern regions.
“If compared to a number of drugs consumed that put us in the upper part of the ranking, we still have excellent performance in terms of spending, both public and private, this is due to thehigh consumption of equivalent and biosimilar drugs – explained Riccardo Roni, manager of drug policy and pharmaceutical assistance services – In addition, in our province, the share of costs is also among the lowest because we are among the five regions / provinces where the co-payment is not paid ».
Drug consumption. If we look at all the people living in Trentino, on average everyone takes at least one drug of some kind per day. The numbers are higher in the range 0-4 and higher among more than 60. There is a slight difference in exposure to drugs between the two sexes, with a prevalence that in Trentino reaches 61.6% in men and 70.3% in women . Focusing on the pediatric age, it can be seen that in Trentino there is a higher consumption of antibiotics and respiratory medicine than in the other regions of the North, even if the expenditure is still limited.
Timing does not count. A separate dispute, for Trentino, concerns the medicines purchased directly by the Health Authority and distributed in all 160 pharmacies spread throughout the province.
“We brought the drug very close to the citizen while still keeping the costs of the service low», underlines Roni.
What do Trentino people use? The people of Trentino seem to be the biggest consumers of anticoagulants with 36.9 doses per thousand people compared to 28.1 in the Italian average. The average price saved us, 1.30 (the lowest in Italy) compared to the national average which is 1.50 In 2022 the cost per capita for class C drugs purchased at the expense of the citizen was 49.39 euros, with an increase of 10% compared and 2021. At the national level, benzodiazepines, contraceptives and drugs used in erectile dysfunction are confirmed as the categories with the highest costs.
If for benzodiazepines and contraceptives in Trentino the consumption is above the average throughout the country, but lower or in line with that of Northern Italy, as far as drugs for erectile dysfunction are concerned, consumption is considerably lower both than the national average and that of the North even if the demand seems to be increasing (+ 10%). Trentino’s figure is 3.3 doses per thousand people, half of Tuscany which recorded 6.6 doses per thousand people (the Italian average is 5.5). The use of antipyretics and NSAIDs has also grown strongly in Trentino in the last year.
Finally, regarding anticancer drugs, in the period 2014-2022 the cost of oncological drugs more than doubled (+113%), going from a value of 34.8 euros to 74.1 euros, with an average annual increase of 9.9%. At the same time, the average price increased by 70%, going from 10.9 to 18.5 euros. In Trentino, with an average consumption of 10.3 ddd/1000, the average price per dose is 15.9 and the cost per person is 56.99 euros (only Valle d’Aosta is less than us).