| Abstract [eng] |
Ugnė Murauskaitė’s Master’s thesis “The Availability of Innovative Medicines in Lithuanian Municipalities”. Scientific supervisor of the research doc. dr. Kristina Garuolienė; Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Center of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. Vilnius, 2026. Aim of the thesis: To evaluate access to innovative medicines across Lithuanian municipalities. Tasks of the research: 1. To identify which innovative medicines were prescribed to patients in Lithuania in 2025. 2. To assess the prevalence of innovative medicines across Lithuanian regions and municipalities. 3. To evaluate differences in access to innovative medicines between municipalities. Research methodology: A quantitative descriptive study based on data analysis was conducted. The study data were collected using 2025 open data on prescribed medicines from the electronic prescription subsystem of the Centre of Registers, as well as data from medicinal product assessments carried out in 2022–2024 by the State Medicines Control Agency under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania. Based on the assessments of the State Medicines Control Agency, a list of innovative medicinal products was compiled by selecting medicines that were assessed as providing additional benefit to patient’s health compared with usual clinical practice. Prescriptions issued in 2025 for these medicines were selected from the electronic prescription data. Access to medicines and the extent of prescribing were assessed according to the patient’s declared municipality of residence by calculating the number of prescriptions per 1000 inhabitants and the defined daily dose indicator per 1000 inhabitants per day. The prescription indicator was calculated using the population size of each municipality, while the defined daily dose indicator was calculated based on the number of doses, medicine strength and the defined daily dose value. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistical methods in Microsoft Excel. Results and conclusions: The study found that in 2025, 24 innovative medicinal products were prescribed in Lithuania. The number of prescriptions for these medicinal products was 40631, and the defined daily dose indicator reached 364,84 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants. The largest share of prescriptions consisted of empagliflozin and dapagliflozin, which together accounted for 85,83% of all analysed prescriptions. The prevalence of innovative medicinal products varied across Lithuanian municipalities: the national rate was 13,30 prescriptions per 1000 inhabitants, with the highest rate found in Raseiniai district municipality – 23,91, and the lowest in Trakai district municipality – 7,31. According to the defined daily dose indicator per 1000 inhabitants per day, the highest value was found in Šiauliai city municipality – 1,7, and the lowest in Trakai district municipality – 0,1. At the regional level, the highest value was found in Šiauliai region – 1,25, and the lowest in Utena region – 0,37. The extreme value ratio for prescriptions per 1000 inhabitants was 3,27, and the coefficient of variation was 0,26. The extreme value ratio for the defined daily dose indicator per 1000 inhabitants was 12,67, and the coefficient of variation was 0,66. The study results showed uneven access to innovative medicinal products across Lithuanian municipalities. |
