n Due to low availability of medicines in the public sector, patients are often forced to purchase medicines in the private sector. In this sector, patient prices for lowest-priced generic products ranged from times IRPs in South-East Asia to times IRPs in the Americas. For originator brand products, private sector prices were at least 10 times higher than international reference prices in all WHO regions. When originator brands are prescribed and dispensed for products that are also available in generic form, patients are paying four times more, on average, to purchase the brand. .
