Mr. Jacksonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will set out in a table the latest expenditure in pounds sterling per head on drugs in those EEC countries for which figures are readily available.
§ Mr. Whitney[pursuant to his reply, 18 April 1986 c. 531]: The table contains the information requested by my hon. Friend. Expenditure figures for drugs in other countries of the European Community which have been obtained from the Organisation of Economic Corporation and Development, include the cost of drugs dispensed to consumers by pharmacies, and the cost of remunerating pharmacists. Expenditure on drugs by hospitals is excluded. The expenditure figures have been converted into sterling by means of general purchasing power parity exchange rates for 1982. Since the expenditure figures for the United Kingdom do not correspond exactly with the expenditure figures for other members of the European Community, comparisons of underlying expenditure levels can by only approximate.
Expenditure on Pharmaceutical Goods per Head of Population 1982* £ Belgium 63.20 Denmark 20.20 France 84.30 Germany 96.60 Italy 51.10 Netherlands 45.60 United Kingdom† 37.50 * Information from OECD sources is generally not available after 1982. Information for the United Kingdom is mainly derived from expenditure information for 1982–83. † The United Kingdom expenditure figures include both the cost of the supply of drugs by Family Practitioner Services and the cost of remunerating pharmacists and dispensing doctors. An estimate for over-the-counter purchases of medicines, which was derived from national accounts sources was also included. The expenditure figures exclude the cost of drugs used by National Health Service hospitals and the cost of drugs used by private health services. Including the cost of drugs dispensed in NHS hospitals, the United Kingdom spent £42.70 on drugs per head of population in 1982.