SOCIOECONOMIC AND PHARMACOTHERAPEUTIC PROFILE OF THE USERS FROM POPULAR PHARMACY PROGRAM IN JUAZEIRO DO NORTE, CE, BRAZIL

Abstract

According to Brazilian Constitution, Health is a right of all population and should be provided by the State. Some public policies used to and continued to be adopted with the intention of elevating the quality of the health services and enlarging the access of the population to the essential medications; to an example of those policies, the federal government instituted in 2004 the Popular Pharmacy Program of Brazil (PPPB). The present article has as objective describing the socioeconomic and pharmacotherapeutic profile of the users of the Popular Pharmacy Program attended in the Juazeiro do Norte’s unity in the region of Ceará. It is an exploratory, descriptive study, with the quantitative approach with 100 interviewees of both sexes sample, between 20 and 70 years old, being the collection of data accomplished through a semi-structured questionnaire. Among the 100 participants of the research, 77% were female. 22% of the interviewees aged 61-70 years; 79% affirmed to be no literateness; 78% claimed to have 1-2 minimum wages income; 22% of the respondents were hypertensive; 61% said the medicines they used were for hypertension control; 96% affirmed that PFPB met their expectations, and 69% declared having no conditions to finance the medication treatment. Besides the perspective of public health, the PFPB plays an important social role of the public compromises with to the disadvantaged Brazilian citizens. Amid the current discussions about the PFPB effectiveness and viability, it was possible to suggest strategies allowing to improve the program, such as the revision of the medicines list and the inclusion of more drugs, as well to enlarge the PFPB popularization.