The consumption of antidepressants in Portugal has been increasing since 2019, according to data from Infarmed, which reveals that in 2021 alone, on average, more than 28 packages were sold per day.
The data provided to the Lusa agency by the National Medicines and Health Products Authority (Infarmed) refer only to the first nine months of last year and show that the Portuguese bought more than 15,7 million packages of anxiolytics, sedatives, hypnotics and antidepressants. , representing a charge to the National Health Service of 46 million euros.
Comparing the evolution of sales since the last year before the pandemic - 2019 -, it appears that the consumption of antidepressants has always been growing: In 2019, an average of 25 thousand (25.667) packages were sold per day, in 2020 the value passed 26 thousand (26.858) and, in 2021, it exceeded 28 thousand daily boxes (28.539), according to accounts made by Lusa.
Regarding the consumption of anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics, there was a decrease between 2019 and 2020, but last year there was a slight increase.
On average, almost 28.300 daily packages of anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics were sold in 2019, with consumption falling to 28.036 packages the following year. Already last year, the sale points to an average daily value of 29.444 daily packages.
Putting all the medicines together, there is an increase in consumption over the last three years.
The data advanced to the Lusa agency relate to medicines prescribed and reimbursed by the National Health Service, dispensed in community pharmacies in mainland Portugal, and were collected from information provided by the SNS Control and Monitoring Center, which is subject to updates. .
According to the data, between January and September 2021, 8.008.993 packages of drugs in the anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics category were sold, and 7.762.694 packages of the antidepressants category were sold, in a total of 15.771.687 packages, with a charge to the SNS of 46.057.083 euros.
In 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, 10.329.106 packages of anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics were sold, representing an expense for the SNS of 19.639.140 euros, and 9.368.778 packages of antidepressants (36.417.184 euros).
In the year that the covid-19 pandemic began in Portugal, 2020, the Portuguese bought 10.233.236 packages of anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics, representing a charge for the NHS of 19.932.647 euros, and 9.803.223 packages of antidepressants. (38.486.797 euros).
In total, 2019 packages of this type of medication were sold in 19.697.884, with a total of 56.056.324 euros for the National Health Service, and 20.036.459 packages in the following year, an expense of 58.419.444 euros. .
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