Even though drugs play an important role in PHC in the four countries, a majority of the drug financing in these countries came from non-Government sources; i.e. private households (Indonesia and Thailand) or donors plus private households (Nepal and Myanmar).

Country information on user charges and cost-sharing for drugs:

Indonesia. User charges for medical services exist in hospitals but drugs in PHC are provided free of charge in primary care facilities.

Myanmar. Several cost-sharing programmes jointly funded by the Government and external donors have been implemented during the past several years and some proved to be working well in improving the availability of drugs in PHC facilities. However, the programmes' viability in the long-run is still questionable since all the donations will not continue. Therefore, Government as well as other alternative sources of funding need to be developed for long-term development and sustainability.

Nepal. The situation is very much like that in Myanmar. Several experimental programmes on cost-sharing have been implemented and some are more successful than others. An insurance programme (the UMN scheme) showed the best performance in improving drug availability and accessibility.

Thailand. Thailand has the most complicated mixtures of health insurance among the four countries. Drug financing in Thailand is from a mixture of private and public sources, provided through various forms of insurance. User charges are common practice in health service provision (including drugs). In addition, several public assistance programmes for the underprivileged and the needy are also provided by Government allocation.