Tighter spending at the chemist

THE Balearics was the only region of Spain which reduced its spending on pharmaceutical products in November, registering a downturn of 1.47 percent.
A pharmacy and health products directorate, part of the central government ministry for Health, said in a report released yesterday that the total spending in Spain on such merchandise reached 970.5 million euros, a growth of 5.67 percent over figures registered for the same month in 2006. The figures mean that the year-on-year growth of spending in this sector stands at 5.33 percent. The highest spenders last month were Asturias recording a growth rate of 9.84 percent; Cantabria (9.38%); Valencia (8.62%); The Canary Islands (8.22%); and Navarre (8.13%). At the other end of the scale were Galicia registering a 3.73 percent growth in spending; Catalonia (4.06%); Extremadura (4.07%) and Melilla (4.28%). In contrast, average spend per medical prescription has shown a declining trend over the past few months. Figures for November this year showed there had been a 1.57 percent downturn in respect of November 2006.