Strategies to improve the availability of medicines in primary health care in Brazil: findings and implications.

Access to essential medicines is a key component of managing patients in ambulatory care. In 2008, the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, created the Pharmacy Network of Minas (Rede Farmácia de Minas [RFM]) program to improve access to medicines, increasing availability and restructuring the infrastructures. The aim was to assess the current situation, comparing municipalities with and without RFM. Descriptive survey study, data collected from 2014 July to May 2015. Availability was verified by stock levels. The drug availability index was 61.0%, higher in municipalities with RFM. Most physicians considered the pharmaceutical services as good/very good. The main reasons for medicines shortage were 'financial transference problems', 'insufficient financial resources' and 'budget'. Strategies, such as the RFM can promote improvements in medicine availability.