An assessment of the Influence of procurement methods on medicine prices in Burundi. A cross-sectional study

Background The increasing of medicine prices particularly in low and middle income countries is currently a concern in the health care sytem. In Burundi, to make medicines available and accessible at the right prices, centralized procurement methods have been implemented, however, despite much effort in improving the access of medicines in the public health facilities, the accessibility and affordability of medicines throughout the whole country remains a major challenge. This study sought to assess the influence of procurement methods on medicine prices in Burundi. Methods This study adopted a quantitative cross-sectional design. A data collection form was used to collect data and the SPSS was used to analyse data and determine the relationship between medicine prices and procurement methods. Results The descriptive statistics showed the median of $0.0376 indicating that 50% of medicine cost less than 0.0376, suggesting a skewed distribution with generally low prices. The high standard deviation of $0.2942 and a range of $1.30034 between the minimum ($0.00133) and maximum ($1.30167) prices revealed a large variability of medicine prices, highlighting a significant difference between the types of medicines. Findings from multivariate logistics regression revealed that there was signifance relationship between procurement methods and medicine prices. The Odds Ratios (OR) of 0.10 in centralized method and p-value of 0.003 showed that medicines procured by centralized procurement method were 90% less likely to fail to meet the right price compared to medicine procured by decentralized procurement method. Conclusion The results from study revealed that the centralized procurement method is the method allowing the Health Districts to procure the medicines with the right price comparing to the medicine prices from decentralised method.