Access to medicines

Pharmaceutical services are part of Pharmaceutical Assistance, are part of health services and aim to guarantee qualified access to medicines for the population in a comprehensive and continuous manner. In Primary Health Care, the minimum structuring of these services, as well as user guidance activities, is recommended in the Guidelines and Manuals of Brazilian health organisations. However, studies have shown various organisational and structural problems in these services, which compromise guaranteed access to medicines. Considering the difficulties faced by users in obtaining their medicines with the proper guidance, this study aimed to find out the perceptions of users of pharmaceutical services in the Basic Health Units of Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, in relation to access to medicines. The research was based on the Servir Project, a qualitative study carried out in 2014. Data related to the sociodemographic, economic and health profile of users, perceptions about the physical structure of the services, obtaining medicines and dispensing practices were extracted from the Servir Project database.